


The Lion and the Lamb

by lazilicious



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-05-27 19:55:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 63,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6298039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazilicious/pseuds/lazilicious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey's world is not as it seems. </p><p>It's a world full of blood, death, and endless pain. Fangs, claws, dragons, and demons roam the fragile surface of the Earth. Monsters lust after her; and powerful figures wish to take her power for their own. </p><p>But even the darkest monster can be as gentle as the most passionate lover. </p><p>Reylo vampire AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> YES YES I KNOW I SHOULD BE WORKING ON MY OTHER FANFIC
> 
> But I was on Tumblr, and I saw winterofherdiscontent's artwork, and I just FELL IN LOVE with the idea of a vampire AU. So here you go, my lovelies! A new fanfic full of angst, fluff, blood, gore, happiness, sadness, and all the things that make Reylo such a wonderful thing! I hope you enjoy!
> 
> (Yes, this will be a multi-chapter fic.)
> 
> Here's the piece of artwork that inspired me: http://letmekylorant.tumblr.com/image/141336784952

Kylo pushed the body off of his lap. 

 

What was this; the second one? The tenth one this night? The hundredth one this month? He had lost count over the years. As the body fell, limp and unmoving into a crumpled heap of legs, arms, and hair onto the ground, Kylo’s eyes gazed over the carnage and gore that lay scattered across his apartment.

 

Blood everywhere. The redness of it was spilled throughout the room; detailed in the hair of the uncountable girls on the floor like bloody roses. It was art, really. How the limbs of so many girls laid perfectly still in their death, their bodies obedient and calm. A masterpiece of Monet. A still life painted by the great artist Picasso. 

 

Hux was on the couch to his right. He was already passed out; the drugs and alcohol combining with the blood high that he doubt had received from the two unconscious and scantily-dressed girls draped over his body. By the looks of their glazed, unfocused eyes, they were either dead or high on drugs. Kylo sneered. Hux was such a lightweight. 

 

He stood. Picking his way over to the bathroom, Kylo cursed at all the limbs and bodies that blocked his clear path. Once or twice, he stepped on a hand. Sometimes it was toes. No one screamed, no one shot up in pain or offered any sound of protest. Just serene silence. 

 

Finally arriving at the bathroom, he cursed upon seeing the once-pristine white tiles now stained with blood. And sure enough, in the jacuzzi, was a naked and dead girl. Her throat, ripped open by what seemed to be a monster, was already congealed. Only Victrus Ren had such an uncivilized style. Ignoring the body, hardened to such gore, Kylo walked over to the sink and raised his eyes up to the mirror. 

 

He looked like shit. His eyes were red, something they always did whenever he drank. His mouth was already stained with blood, and Kylo quickly grabbed a towel to clean his mouth. 

 

Oh shit. There was already blood on his shirt. Frustrated, Kylo tore it off of his body in one sweeping motion, the threads and seams ripping effortlessly under his fingers. The night was barely over; the blood barely yet shed. 

 

He stalked back outside. Phasma was already unconscious, lying naked on the bed cradling two well-built men and staining his sheets a bright red. The rest of the knights, as they called themselves, were either feasting or passed out. Suddenly, the smell of vodka and blood was too much for him. He cranked open a nearby window, letting the sounds of the city drift up into his apartment while the scent of alcohol and blood floated outwards. 

 

He breathed in a deep breath. He should feel secure, should be happy in his new, immortal life. But sometimes, he always felt that  _ part  _ of him, the part that should be dead, groan and cry with misery and guilt. His heart, which should be dead and banished, would beat, would thrum with endless emotion.  When those times happened, he did what he usually did: throw a huge party of endless lust and blood. 

 

He took another deep breath, letting the cool summer air waft through his nostrils and clear his mind and his heart. Soon, his inward turmoil subsided, and the beating of his heart was finally gone to be replaced by silence.

 

Kylo loved smelling the city. He loved hearing the endless cries of street vendors, the excited chattering of tourists, the never-ending symphony of honking and the continuous shining of the bright the city lights. He loved how the city never slept; how its energy and fun environment never stopped. How the inflow of stupid, easy tourists never slowed down. How there were so many easy picks on the streets, orphans and prostitutes that never merited a second glance. 

 

He loved how the city was unsteady. Unpredictable, wild, and free. He breathed in once more, letting a thousand different and distinct smells hit his nose. Some sewage. Fresh perfume from the Victoria’s Secret down the street. The sharp smell of heroin from a dark alleyway that reeked of garbage. 

 

Suddenly, he smelled it. It hit him like a ray of sun from above. 

 

A cupitaviri. Their bright, shimmering aura of energy so irresistible and mouthwatering. 

Pure temptation. Desire incarnate. Kylo had never seen one before; only heard stories of how delicious and beautiful they were. How their blood was like a drug; how so many had fallen insane and mentally unstable after just one drop. 

 

But it was said that if you were strong enough, just a drop was enough to render you as strong as a god. Invulnerable, immortal and forever youthful. Normal vampires, even ones as strong as he himself, were still groggy while in direct sunlight. Oh, they acted perfectly like humans, walking in the streets and blending among them. Wolves in the midst of sheep. 

 

The smell got stronger. But with the scent, came more. Acrid smoke and fire. Cracked metal. The unmistakable smell of death. Without a further thought, without reminding himself of the stupid consequences he could get for being so  _ stupid  _ and  _ spontaneous,  _ he jumped down from the window. 

 

All 10 stories. The wind whistled in his ears, the feel of weightlessness making him feel higher than a god. It lasted but a split second, before he landed gracefully on the pavement, the cement cracking under the force of his landing. 

 

There, half a block in front of him, was a car crash. The front of the automobile was completely destroyed, the metal so badly disfigured that Kylo flinched. He hesitatingly took a step forward, holding his breath to prevent the smoke from getting into his lungs. 

 

Death. It was here already. Already, he could see the grim reaper plucking two bright souls from the car, leading them into the dark depths of the underworld. Heaven, or hell? For those two unfortunate souls, that was yet to be decided. 

 

But the smell of the cupitaviri did not die down. If anything, it smelled stronger. 

 

Then, the soft cry of a child broke the silence. It was unnatural to his ears; the innocent warbling of a small child. Ripping the car door off of its hinges, Kylo’s eyes fell upon a small girl. 

 

Hazel hair. Brown doe eyes. She looked like a perfect child, the type of girl that would befriend everyone at school. The type of girl to always turn in her homework, loved by all the teachers. The type of girl that didn’t deserve to die so early in a car crash. 

 

She wasn’t dead. If she was, then how could she be crying? Fat, wet tears dripped down her cheeks and spilled into a small puddle in her lap. Kylo was half blinded by bloodlust, and he felt his eyes grow red at the strong scent of the cupitaviri. The girl’s cheek was cut, her knees scabbed and dripping out red blood that just  _ begged  _ to be drank. Kylo’s vision became tinted with red, his logic and reasoning all thrown out of the window to be replaced with hunger.  He reached out with his hands, so  _ hungry  _ and wanting  _ so badly  _ to just sink his teeth into the soft flesh of the girl. To drink her blood, to give in to his desire and to become an immortal, strong god. 

 

His hands landed on her, and he pulled her out of the car. 

 

But his desire was gone the minute his pale, dead hands touched her warm and quivering body. 

 

Where did it go? Where did his bloodlust, his thirsty need for her blood, go? Just one touch and all of the desire was gone. All of his insecurities, all of those untameable emotions inside of him melted away like ice cream on a hot day. 

 

With the quivering girl in his arms, the trembling little mortal crying into his chest, Kylo Ren felt like the happiest person in the world. No more insecurity. No more endless nights of sweat and nightmares. 

 

The girl in his arms seemed to recognize the change in him. Instead of shivering, she buried her tiny face in his shoulder. Unfamiliar with her warmth and not used to the way she placed all of her trust into a  _ strange,  _ a man who wanted to kill her and drink her blood, Kylo tensed. 

 

He wanted to help this girl. He wanted to cradle her, wanted to wipe away her tears and take all of her dark sorrow away. Wanted to  _ feel  _ with her, wanted to remember the beautiful emotions that made being a mortal so wonderful. 

 

He brushed against her mind, softly and gently, taking away all her fear. Immediately, like clockwork, the girl stopped crying. She peered up at him, removing her face from his chest. 

 

Something in Kylo’s chest seized when those hazel eyes, so bright and so  _ full of life,  _ focused on his own. Instead of being scared, wincing away from his blood red eyes, the little girl instead cocked her head and poked his left eye with one of her tiny fingers. 

 

“Arrrgh!” Kylo hissed more out of surprise than pain. The girl giggled, no doubt laughing at his reaction. Had it been anyone else, he would have ripped them apart limb by limb for daring to harm him. But this little girl, whose innocence was almost blinding, made him throw away his senses of violence. 

 

He knew what he should do. He should hand the girl over to Snoke, bring her as a gift that would make the knights of Ren stronger beyond belief. With this little girl, all of his dreams would come true. All of his desire for power, control, and strength would finally be satisfied. 

 

But there was a desire that he could never quench. His desire for her. 

 

His desire for that beautiful and innocent laugh that she had uttered a second ago. His desire to see those beautiful round eyes focused on him with a happy gaze. Maybe, his desire to see her toothy smile spread across her face. 

 

He liked seeing her happy… because it made  _ him  _ happy. What was happening to him? Where was he getting such notions? Why did he just act so weak? He should never, ever bend to a mortal. 

 

Sirens started to go off, and by the sounds of them, the police were just a few blocks away, the firefighters and police ready to rescue and save. News articles would blow up the next day, police reports would be filed. And the girl? She would be placed somewhere safe. Somewhere secure and far away from dangers such as himself. But it would be so easy for her to just disappear. The media would never know; no trace of her would be found at the crash site. It was now, or never. Kylo glanced back to the girl. 

 

Her eyes flashed towards the road and the source of the sirens, her face set in a frightened expression at the sound of the harsh noise. Once again, she buried her tiny face in his chest, her small fingers curling up into tiny fists that clawed at his bare chest. 

 

She was scared. Not of him, but of the world. Her fear, her pulsing need for safety and security, almost drowned him. She was not scared of him. She was the first person, the first mortal, to ever look at him with trusting eyes full of innocence 

 

The sirens grew louder. 

 

Before he could change his mind, Kylo ran back to the car and placed the girl back in it. At their separation, when his hands finally left her body, the girl began to cry, her tiny hands reaching out to try and grab him once more. Kylo took one of her tiny, almost doll-like, fingers and grasped it in his own large hands. 

 

“Don’t worry, okay? I’ll make sure you’re safe,” Kylo said. He didn’t know if the girl could hear him, but the fear in her eyes seemed to dim. “I’ll watch over you, I’ll always be there for you. So don’t worry, sweetheart,” he continued, “I’m here for you. Be strong, okay? For me.”

 

The girl nodded. 

 

The sirens were right beside him now. At the first screams and shouts of the police and firemen, Kylo melded into the shadows of the alleyway, using his full powers to become one with the darkness, shielded from the prying and calculating eyes of the mortals. 

 

He watched as the police stepped around the wreckage to get to the girl. He watched as they lifted her in their arms, cradled her as she cried and reached out with her hands to the shadows, her tearful eyes searching for someone whom she would never be able to see. He watched as the front doors were open, noticed how the policemen’s faces were set into grim lines. He watched, as they shook their heads hopelessly, put their CPR kits on the ground. He watched them clamp their hands over their mouths and turn away from the death in the car. 

  
He watched the police car, red, white, and blue lights blaring in the midst of the night, pull away from the curb.

 

The scent grew fainter and fainter, as the car drove further and further away. 

 

The moment everything was settled, all of the rescuers gone and the wreckage cleared, the shadows and darkness finally molded back into their human forms. Vampires, all ages, sizes, genders, emerged to stare at Kylo. 

 

“Ah,” he said, molding back into his own form, “I see that you’ve all smelled it too.”

 

“Cut the crap, Kylo,” hissed a man whom Kylo vaguely remembered as Iratan Ren. “We know she’s a cupitaviri. Why the hell didn’t you just take her? She was right there, for fuck’s sake!”

 

Kylo felt his anger grow. “Listen to me, and listen clearly, Iratan,” he said. “The girl is not to be harmed. If you dare to spill even a single drop of her blood, I will tear your head clean off of your body.”

 

Murmurs arose from the other vampires as they shot each other dubious glances. What did Kylo mean? Surely he wouldn’t just let a cupitaviri walk freely? This was the first one to be discovered in years. 

 

“What are you playing at, Kylo?” Iratan asked, a sneer on his face. “Snoke isn’t going to be too pleased about this.”

 

“Let me deal with Snoke,” Kylo said. “For now, go back to your homes. The girl is to remain untouched under my protection. If anyone has a problem with this, they can take it up with me.”

 

He was met with silence. Kylo nodded his head. Good. No one here dared to challenge him. One by one, the vampires slowly shifted into other forms, some flying off as bats, others morphing into pure darkness and drifting away. Soon, Kylo was once again alone. 

 

He morphed again, sliding in through his window slowly and carefully. Closing the window without making any noise, he found himself back in his home. Still the same dead bodies, still the same rivers of blood that ran through the ground. 

 

Phasma was awake. He could tell. Knowing that a conflict was unavoidable, he slowly turned to face her. Even though he had been with her for years, been at her side and fought with her, he was still unsure of how she would react. 

 

To his surprise, she threw her head back and began to chuckle. “Really, Kylo,” she whispered, no doubt not wanting to wake Hux,  “what are you now? A father goose? Kylo Ren, leader of the vampire knights, a father!” Phasma threw her head back and chuckled even harder. Kylo smiled at her humor. At least, Phasma wasn’t preparing to fight him. He would hate to kill her. 

 

“So what are you going to do with your new pet? Groom her and keep her safe until she’s ready to be fed from?” Phasma asked. Kylo growled, angry at her choice of words, and Phasma threw up her hands in defense. “I’m not judging you, Kylo. Do what you want with her. I just want you to be careful.”

 

Kylo nodded. “Don’t worry about me Phasma, I know how to keep myself safe.”

 

“Do you know how to keep  _ her  _ safe?”

 

Kylo stared out of the window, letting  _ her  _ scent drift out of his system into the cool, humid air of the city. “I hope so,” he said, gazing out into the city where he knew  _ she  _ was. Was she thinking of him now? Crying for the stranger that held her close? “I really hope I do.” 

 


	2. Chapter 2

She was old now. 19 entire years. He had counted each day, watched the clocks as they ticked by each hour, minute, and second of her life. He had been there at every single party, watched each year as another candle joined the ever-growing group on the top of a beautiful cake.

 

Kylo took another deep breath of his cigarette, perching as he always did on the windowsill of Rey’s room. She was still sleeping during the early hours of the moment and her still form laid on the bed like a little doll. Kylo stood, his tall form dwarfing the tiny room. Silently closing the window and walking forward, his footsteps invisible like the wraith he was, he stalked closer and closer until he was but a few inches from her bed.

 

There she was. Not even a foot away from him. His shadow, black and as dark as midnight, covered Rey’s entire body. Stretching out his fingers until they almost touched her skin, Kylo could barely contain himself.

 

The desire was unbearable. Taking another deep breath of his cigarette, Kylo had to close his eyes to control the waves of desire that rushed through him like a storm. Rey had just turned 19, that fateful year, and it had gotten so much worse for him. Now, not only did he have to fight that strong desire for her blood, but also the red-hot lust that made him feel like an animal in heat.

 

He leaned his head down until he could see each tiny hair sticking up on her neck. Each breath she took, each tremor of her body, he felt it. Watching the blood pulse through her neck, watching as the veins in her body thrummed with energy, Kylo felt his eyes go red. As simple as drawing a blade or loading a gun, his fangs slid out from his teeth.

 

So close. He leaned down even more until he could _smell_ her flowery and candy-like scent. His fangs brushed her neck, her mortal warmth and energy causing him to shiver with anticipation. All it would take now was a quick snap of his jaw, and all his years of waiting would end. All he had to do was hold her still as he drained her empty of each and every drop of her wonderful blood.

 

Then, Rey groaned and shifted, snapping Kylo out of his lustful trance, and he immediately shot back up to a standing position while holding his breath as he waited to see whether or not he had woken her up. When her breathing once again became even, when her body became still except for the constant rising and falling of her chest, Kylo finally breathed once more.

 

Savage. Cruel. Bloodthirsty. He was a monster. And yet here he was. Standing like a lovesick teenage boy over the sleeping body of a girl that was just _made_ to torture him. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to control himself any longer, Kylo stalked back to the window and opened it.

 

Before he left, he quickly drew the tiny box out of his pocket and laid it on the table next to the window. One last glance over his shoulder, one more look at his beautiful girl, and Kylo disappeared back into the shadows where he belonged.

 

\-------------------------

 

Spring. A season of renewal. Rebirth. Fresh love and new beginnings.

 

As she awoke and stretched her muscles, Rey breathed in a deep scent of the fresh air. The sounds of the city drifted towards her ears, and Rey walked to the open window, leaning outward against the windowsill to gaze at the beautiful city of New York.

 

Everything just shouted “spring”. Down below, in front of her apartment complex, a man was already setting up his vending cart for the day while humming a light and energetic song. Flowers were blooming on the sidewalk, fighting with the far-reaching trunks of the trees for room to grow and flourish.   


Rey shot a glance to her alarm clock. It was only 9:30 a.m. She reached for her phone on the table nearby.

 

But what was that? On the table next to her phone? Creeping forward, she hesitantly grabbed the box. It was tiny, small enough to fit comfortably in her hands. Opening in, she gasped at the beautiful artwork inside.

 

It was a necklace. Judging by the beautifully designed chain, it was made of pure gold. Never before had Rey seen anything so lovely, and she had been across the world, visiting cities like Paris and Rome. She had seen diamonds made for kings and tiaras designed for regal queens and princesses. But she would throw it all away for the beautiful necklace that she now held.

 

It was a gold necklace, and on one end there hung a beautiful pearl. But it was not a white pearl, brighter than the day. Nor was a black one, blacker than midnight. It was a deep, beautiful burgundy red, both sinister and mysteriously beautiful at the same time. Stroking a finger down the chain and letting the dainty pearl settle in the palm of her hand, Rey wondered if it was a mistake.

 

Maybe it wasn’t hers? Maybe someone misplaced it; meant it as a gift for someone other than her?

 

As she moved hastily to put it down, a note fluttered out of the top of the box. Rey bent down to pick it up, squinting to read the scrawling handwriting that she had grown to know so well.

 

“Rey,” it read. “Happy Birthday. It’s me again. Yes, this necklace is for you. Knowing you, you’ve probably thought that it was a mistake or a misplaced item. But no, this is for you alone. Wear it; it’ll keep you safe.”

 

There was no signature, like always. Rey took the note, stuffing it into the bottom drawer of a table that was already crammed with hundreds of notes, all in the same handwriting. The same, mysterious person.

 

She liked to think it was her guardian angel. Someone who was watching over her. Maybe even her mom and dad, reaching out from heaven above to watch over their beautiful daughter. Rey walked to a nearby mirror, clasping on the dainty necklace, noting how it almost seemed to fit perfectly onto her neck, like it was made for her.

 

  1. Nine-teen. Nine plus ten. One-nine.



 

She was getting old. She didn’t look it, but she did feel like it. With each nightmare of crashing metal and acrid smoke, she grew a little. With each tear she shed during the night, another part of her withered away.

 

But the nightmares always faded away, and the tears were always dried. Once or twice, Rey thought she felt the strong, supportive grip of a hand in the night. But whenever she opened her eyes in the morning, she was alone. Was it her parents? Her mom’s spirit that stroked her forehead gently in the night? Or was it father who kissed her gently in the darkness?

 

Her phone buzzed, and Rey hurried to get it.

 

_Jessica- “Hey, birthday girl! Ready to turn it up? Meet me at the pub at 10 a.m, and get your lazy ass off the bed!”_

 

Rey smiled, and quickly typed back an affirmative for their meet-up while she opened her wardrobe with one hand and blindly grabbed a dress. Throwing her phone on the bed, she struggled to fit her head through the neck hole of the pale pink dress that she had chosen to don for her birthday.

 

Pale pink; an innocent color that she always had loved. Quickly tying up her hair into their three signature buns, Rey hurriedly brushed her teeth before grabbing her purse and keys. She rushed out of her apartment, locking the door and running down the stairs at breakneck speed.

 

As she rounded the turn, as she lost her footing, she vaguely made out the outline of another person. Screaming, Rey managed to skid to a stop and slam a hand onto the wall for support. She looked down at the human she had almost collided with, and smiled upon seeing the familiar face.

 

It was just Maz, her twinkling eyes laughing at Rey’s clumsiness. “Ah, it’s the birthday girl!” She reached up a hand to affectionately pinch one of Rey’s cheeks. “Don’t be so clumsy dear; you’re in the prime of your existence. Your bones should be strong and supportive. Now go!” She said, making way for Rey to pass her on the stairs. “Go celebrate your youthfulness! Eat a little extra today, for me, will you?”

 

Rey laughed, nodding to let the wonderful, lovable, old lady know that she would go and celebrate. After giving Maz a quick hug, she continued to sprint down the stairs and run out the front door.

 

Ah. Taking a deep breath in through her nose, Rey smiled as the wonderful scents of roses and flowers entered her nostrils. The beautiful spring air never failed to lift her spirits. Humming a little song, she started to walk down the sideway.

 

As she turned the corner, she could finally see the neighborhood pub. “Takadona”, people called it. Rey had no idea who or what was the motivation behind the name, but she appreciated it nonetheless. Entering through the door, she saw an energetic Jessica waving to her from one of the side booths.

 

“Hey, Jessica. Got here as soon as I could,” said Rey. Next to her friend, sitting in the booth, was a stranger that she had never seen before.

 

As if sensing her confusion, Jessica gestured towards the man sitting next to her. “I brought a friend along today, I hope you don’t mind. His name is Poe Dameron, and he goes to the same university as us.”

 

Rey shook his hand, but couldn’t help but feel a little lost. She had never seen Poe around at their school before. Although the university was big and there were hundreds of people, she already recognized everyone’s faces after her first year. Saying nothing and keeping the smile pasted on her face, Rey slid into the booth.

 

“So, Jessica told me it was your birthday today. How old are you?” Poe asked, his voice friendly and comforting.

 

“I’m nineteen,” Rey said, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice. “Yesterday was my birthday.” The waitress came, interrupting her and handing out the menus. The trio ordered, Rey choosing her all-time favorite of the sand-pancakes with a side of bacon.

 

They joked and talked while waiting for their orders to arrive. Poe, making a great impression of Professor Binks and his strange, grammatically-incorrect way of speaking, made Rey laugh so hard she was pretty sure she got abs. When their orders finally came, Rey’s eyes were swimming with tears from all of her laughs.

 

“Thank you,” she said to the waiter, and hungrily looked at her plate. Giant heaps of pancakes were piled throughout her plate, with a generous dousing of syrup and frosted sugar. The bacon on the side looked cooked to perfection, brown crispy edges perfectly complimenting the gorgeous red of the meat in the middle.

 

Jessica, healthy as always, had ordered the fresh fruit salad. But Poe, whom Rey was beginning to like more and more, had ordered the carnivore’s delight. The three of them dug into their breakfasts, too busy filling their stomachs than to talk.

 

After they finished, Rey first, they sat back in their seats and sighed with content. Poe, chuckling, gave Rey an apprehensive glance. Rey’s cheeks reddened, her defensive spirit rising. “What,” she said, “Surprised at how much I can eat? If it offends you, then I’m sorry.”

 

Poe looked taken aback. “Surprised, maybe. But offended? Not at all!” Rey relaxed. “Just a bit… jealous that you have such a large stomach.” Poe winced, slapping his own belly. “Wish mine were bigger. You know what they say; women who actually eat are women who you’ll actually want.”

 

Oh. Oh! Rey’s cheeks blushed as she realized what Poe was insinuating. He winked at her,  Gathering her senses, she responded. “But what about the men? I’m afraid I can be… associated… with men who can’t keep up with my appetite.” Rey shot a look to Poe’s plate, which was not yet entirely clean.

  
Jessica laughed, slapping the shoulder of an embarrassed Poe. “Sorry mate,” she said, “Rey sure shot you down!” She winked at Rey. “Nice job, Rey. It’s good to see that you don’t get blinded easily by Poe’s “attractiveness”,” Jessica said, adding quotation marks around her last word with her fingers while roaring with amusement.

 

Poe, a naive smile on his face that made him look like an innocent schoolboy, shot Rey an innocent look. “I wouldn’t mind getting shot down by you, though.”

 

Rey knew he was flirting with her. She just didn’t understand the concept of what he was trying to say. Seeing the confused expression on her friend’s face, Jessica stepped in to explain. “Oh, Poe here was a marine for a few years. He fought overseas, and is now continuing his education where he left off.”

 

Oh. Interesting. That would explain his joke and why she had never seen him around before. “So, marines, huh?” Rey said, “Well, you’re going to have to show me your muscles some day.”

 

Poe waggled his eyebrows and leaned in closer on the booth table. “Why don’t we set a date so you can see my beautiful muscles?”

 

Rey had to admit, Poe was pretty smooth. As she slid her phone over to him so he could input her number, Jessica beamed with happiness. Always the wingman, Jessica loved setting up her friends with dates. As Poe slid her phone back across the table, Jessica clapped with happiness.

 

The check arrived. Rey reached for it, but Jessica’s quick fingers beat her to it.

 

“Hey!” Rey cried, trying her hardest to snatch the receipt out of her friend’s hand, which was waving the receipt just out of her reach. “Jessica! Give it to me!”

 

“That won’t be fair!” Jessica whined. “After all, you’re the birthday girl. Do you _really_ think I would let you pay?”

 

Rey knew from experience that it was impossible to win over Jessica when she had her mind set to a goal. “Fine,” she huffed, “But I still get to pay for the tip.”

 

Jessica nodded her head and began signing the receipt, placing her credit card in the slot and handing it to a nearby worker. The trio talked a little longer, waiting for Jessica to get her card back. The conversation soon steered to the topic of education.

 

“So,” Rey began, curious about Poe. “What are you majoring in?”

 

“I’m continuing where I left off before I left to join the marines. I’m majoring in aerospace engineering, with a minor in physics,” Poe said.

 

“I’m doing aerospace engineering too! We’ll probably be in the same class,” Rey said. The waiter returned to bring Jessica her receipt, and Rey gathered all her things. Out of her wallet she pulled out some one dollar bills, and she reached across the table to pin the bills down under the salt shakers.

 

As she leaned over, her torso bent. She could feel as her pearl necklace slid off of her skin to dangle in the air.

 

Jessica gasped with astonishment. “Oh my god!” She exclaimed in a voice loud enough to turn the heads of some of the patrons. “Your necklace! I love it!”

 

Rey’s hand flew to the pearl. “Oh. Thank you.”

 

As she looked up, Jessica’s beaming face was just as eager as she thought it would be. But next to her friend, Poe was not as eager at all. On his face was an expression of surprise, anger, hatred, and a million other emotions that Rey didn’t think a simple pearl necklace could conjure.

 

Faster than lightning, Poe’s hand reached over to grab her wrist. Gasping, more out of surprise at how strong his grip was than actual pain, Rey shivered at the dark storm brewing inside Poe’s eyes.

 

“Where,” he said, his voice dangerously low, “Did you get this necklace?”

 

Unable to formulate clear words, Rey stuttered her answer. “It-it was a gift,” she said.

Inside, she pleaded with fate. _Please don’t let him ask about who gave it to me,_ she thought, _please!_

 

Poe’s lips moved once more, his chest rising as he prepared to ask another question. But fortunately, Jessica piped in.

 

“Well, uh,” she said, laughing nervously, “Poe, don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’s from a secret admirer or a friend.” Trying to dissipate the tension, she jabbed Poe in the ribs. “Don’t worry about it, loverboy! I’m sure you can beat the competition.”

 

Poe slowly slunk back into his seat, his lips curling into a smile that didn’t reach his face. “Forgive me for my… harshness… Rey.” The storm in his eyes seemed to subside by a fraction. “I was just curious about such a beautiful necklace.”

 

As Jessica changed the topic, asking about the new coffee shop that opened up across her apartment, Rey let the tension leave her lungs in a giant exhale.

 

Poe’s eyes never left her own as the trio sat in the booth for the next hour.

 

\-----------------------------

 

Kylo hated spring. He hated the smell of fresh flowers and the chatters of excited passerby. As he drew in another deep breath of his cigarette, he scowled at the pedestrians whose eyes hesitated on him for just a second too long.

 

He knew he looked out of place. Who would wear all black and long pants on such a hot spring day?

 

The alley in which he stood was the perfect spying position. From here, he could see every movement of Rey’s. Every time she laughed, her shoulders and waist would shake while her head would tilt backward with laughter.

 

But there was one motion he didn’t appreciate. The man across from her, in once fluid motion, seized Rey’s wrist.

 

Kylo stepped forward from his position, and a growl slipped from his throat. Ignoring the startled mortals around him, he kept his eyes fixated on Rey and the mystery man. It was over soon, and Kylo let out a sigh of relief when he saw Rey lean back in her seat.

 

And he growled again when he saw that her wrist was red and bruised.

 

She gave him her number. He already knew that, judging by their flirtatious positions and how she slid her phone over to him. Was a date in the future? Would she love him? Would he visit her apartment, spend passionate nights with her?

 

It was suddenly too much to take. Throwing his cigarette to the concrete ground and stomping on it to put out the fire, he surveyed his surroundings. People of all ages and ethnicities swarmed around him, but Kylo was only looking for a particular style. Brown hair. Brown eyes. A toothy smile. A beautiful voice.

 

Ah. There was one. She wasn’t the spitting image of Rey, but her brown hair and brown eyes were enough for him. Stalking up to her, he pretended to trip, and grabbed her shoulder for “support”.

 

As he fell down, his mouth fell next to her ear. With as much Force as he could muster, Kylo whispered in her ear. “You will walk into the alleyway with me and pretend to be supporting me,” he said softly, “and you will not alert anyone nor call for help.”

 

The girl straightened, a telltale sign of Force persuasion victims. Slowly and steadily, she walked over to the closest dark alleyway, while Kylo leaned on her shoulder. The moment they were far away from prying eyes, Kylo slammed her by her shoulders against the wall.

 

“Stay quiet,” he said once more before leaning into her and burying his face in her neck. It was a smooth feeding. His fangs slid out as silent as whispers before sinking into his victim’s soft flesh. To an outsider, it would look like a two lovers getting it on in a dark alleyway. Nothing that New Yorkers would think was new or out of the ordinary.

 

It was good blood, and it should be, coming from what looked like a healthy and vibrant mortal.

 

But Kylo was still not satisfied, even when the girl grew so weak with blood loss that she started to sag against the wall for support. Kylo kept her standing, his arms pinning her shoulders as he continued to drink. Deeper and deeper into the girl’s flesh he dug his teeth, the blood flowing faster into his mouth.

 

He should be happy with this blood. But ever since he had met Rey, nothing was good enough for him. He had gone through so many mortals; blond ones, brunette ones, short ones, tall ones, but none of them had the right _taste_. He had this strange urge inside of him, one that he could never satisfy.

 

The girl was about to fall unconscious. Kylo pulled away from her.

 

She could probably still walk, but her face had lost some of its once bright and cheerful color. Quickly spitting onto his thumb and rubbing it on her neck wound to heal it, Kylo once again spoke to her, using Force persuasion once again.

 

“You will go home, and you will cancel all of your plans because you feel unwell,” he said. The girl nodded, a glazed expression on her face. As she turned to leave the alley, her legs still a bit wobbly, Kylo wiped any remaining blood off of his mouth before walking out of the alleyway. It was a good thing he wore black. Blood stains wouldn’t be as noticeable.

 

He was still hungry.

 

And now, he was also horny.

 

\------------------------

 

The sun had gone down in the west when Jessica finally stopped dragging Rey along with her on what she dubbed a “birthday splurge”. For hours upon hours Jessica had dragged her through countless stores, making her try on dresses, shirts, and pants.

 

Thank god for the short lunch break in between. But 7 hours of shopping still made Rey feel as dead as the winter trees. Shuddering, Rey felt dread sink her stomach as she imagined all the clothes that Jessica would bring to her apartment tomorrow. Although Rey had repeated, time after time after time that she didn’t want any clothes or gifts, Jessica brought her multiple dresses and other things that Rey didn’t need.

 

Well, at least shopping with Jessica was better than having to endure Poe’s inquisitive glance. Poe was nice enough, but Rey felt like the man felt suspicious of her. She had no idea why. Maybe she was just being paranoid; she needed a good sleep.

 

It was getting dark. Rey thought she heard an owl hoot as she walked back to her apartment. No other pedestrians loitered around; she was completely alone on the street. As the streetlights above her flickered, Rey couldn’t help but feel like she was being… _followed._

 

Shooting a quick glance behind her shoulder and grabbing her purse more securely, Rey saw no one behind her.

 

Maybe she was just getting a little paranoid.

 

But as she walked faster, her feet striding forward at a quicker pace, Rey thought she heard footsteps behind her. When she tilted her head to side just a little, enough to see a sliver of what was behind her, she saw the tiniest hint of a man walking behind her.

 

She walked faster.

 

So did the man.

 

She broke into a run, her feet pumping as quickly as they could and her lungs fighting for breath. As she ran, she looked back, and nearly stopped with surprise when she didn’t see a single soul. It was like the man had just disappeared into thin air.

 

Then, she felt herself slam into what felt like a wall.

 

It was not a wall, however. It was man. A man who quickly and efficiently slammed her painfully into the wall of an abandoned alley. Hissing with pain, Rey finally got a good look at her attacker.

 

It was a man, that she was sure of. His eyes were abnormally red, the color of them taking away all of Rey’s breath. Growls, not words, came from his mouth, making him seem more animal than human. Unsure of her fate, Rey held her breath and waited for her attacker to make his first move.

 

“So, we finally meet,” the man said, talking as if it was just a casual conversation. “It’s good to finally feel how wonderfully soft your skin is,” he said, and Rey couldn’t help but shiver at the disgusting way his fingers crept over her skin.

 

His red eyes moved down to her neck, and Rey knew that he was looking at her necklace.

 

“Ah. Of course he placed his mark on you,” he said, disgust evident in his tone. “What a foolish man. Does he really think a small trinket can drive me away from you?”

 

Rey never got a chance to ask the man what he meant. In a swift motion, the man’s large hands closed in a fist around her necklace and yanked it off of her neck. Crying out at the sudden jerk of pain, Rey watched as her necklace was flung onto the dirty ground, the red pearl now mixed with dirt and grime.

 

The man took a deep breath, leaning in so close that his nose was just a few centimeters away from Rey’s neck. Shuddering, with fear and nervousness, Rey leaned back into the wall, wishing with all her might that she could just disappear into the red bricks and far away from certain death.

 

“Mmmm, you smell so good!” The man said, and Rey dry heaved at the disgustingly sweet tone of his voice. Then, something wet touched her neck, and Rey yelped, trying her hardest to wiggle out of her captor’s hold.

 

She knew what it was. It was his _tongue_ that had just licked her.

 

“Delicious,” he hissed, closing his eyes as if to savor the taste. “Now,” he said, “Let’s see if your blood is really as tasty as they say it is.”

 

Rey had so many questions. Blood? Tasty? Who was ‘they’? But before she could open her mouth, something sharp and pointy pierced her skin, and Rey screamed with the pain. Squirming, resisting, pulling; nothing freed her from her attacker’s grasp.

 

Daggers, (or was it _teeth?)_ ripped at her neck and Rey screamed from the pain. Her legs, feeling weak and unsupportive, crumpled and her knees became wobbly.

 

As she closed her eyes, letting the pain sweep through her and claim her body, she sunk closer and closer to the darkness.

 

Someone screamed. Not her.

 

Her attacker was pushed off of her.

 

But it was too late. The darkness had already sunk its talons into her. As Rey dozed off into a fitful sleep, she thought she imagined warm and supportive hands wrapped around her arms and lifting her to safety. Or death. Rey was still unsure of her fate.

  
For that one moment before she fell into unconsciousness, she might have thought that those strong hands were real.


	3. Chapter 3

Fuck.

 

He really fucked things up this time. Rubbing his eyelids, more out of frustration than fatigue, Kylo tried his hardest to empty his mind and to think of a plan.

 

Rey was in his apartment. She was in the most intimate area of his life. She was in his bedroom, a place that few near him had access to.

 

She was in his bed.

 

Kylo cursed again, pacing around the room while trying to formulate a plan.

 

He had arrived, quite literally in the nick of time, to drag Iratan off of Rey. He had smelled her blood in the air, and rushed to her side as quickly as he could. But why did he run to her so quickly? Because he wanted to save her? Or had he been fueled by his own lust for her blood?

 

Rey groaned again in her sleep, rolling to face him. Her shirt, riding up ever so slowly, gave Kylo a quick peek at her well-toned stomach. The subtle curves of her naked legs weren’t helping Kylo keep his mind clear.

 

Knowing what had to be done, Kylo reached out with his mind, searching for the one person who could help him the most.

 

 _Phasma,_ he called out, _I need your help._

 

A moment later, Phasma materialized out of thin air to stand beside him. As lithe and deadly as a jungle cat, she stood at attention. “Why’d you call me, Ren?” She asked. “I was enjoying myself with some...company.”

 

Kylo rolled his eyes. Phasma never ran out of prey. “Sorry to interrupt your no-doubt wonderful company, but I have a favor to ask of you. Do you mind doing a quick memory wipe and spell of unconsciousness on a mortal?”

 

Phasma’s powers of mental manipulation was much more developed than Kylo’s or any of the other Knights’. Raising an eyebrow, Phasma snorted. “Really, Kylo, is there a mortal annoying you? Why don’t you just kill them like usual?”

 

In response, Kylo pointed to his bed. Phasma’s eyes followed his finger, her mouth falling into a perfect _o_ when she saw who was on the bed.

 

“Oh! That’s _her!”_ Phasma whispered, her voice flushed with excitement. “When I felt her heartbeat when you summoned me, I assumed she was just some...company. How in the world did she get here? I thought you didn’t want her to know about you at all.”

 

“It’s a long story,” Kylo said. “You’ll understand it soon.”

Phasma shot a contemptuous look at Kylo. “Well, did you guys “enjoy” each other’s company?” Phasma sniggered, her voice laced with a dirty tone while she waggled her eyebrows suggestively. Kylo rolled his eyes. With Phasma, it was always about sex, sex, and sex. With some intercourse and fucking mixed in.

 

“No,” Kylo said, hearing the own disappointment in his voice, “We didn’t. Just do the mind wipe, please, Phasma. I assume you want to get back to your own company.”  


Phasma walked over to where Rey laid on the bed. Sitting down on the covers, she placed her hands gently on Rey’s scalp before closing her eyes and delving deep into the mortal’s memories of the past few hours.

 

“Woah,” Phasma said, “Did Iratan get to her? Thank god you got there that quickly, Ren. Can’t imagine what he would have done to her.” A few more seconds passed as Phasma worked her magic. When she opened her eyes and stood up slowly from the bed, Kylo knew that she had been successful.

 

“She should be good now. The past hours of her life have been erased. As far as she knows now, she got home safely and sound and fell asleep at a good, normal hour in her own home,” Phasma said.

 

“And she definitely doesn’t know about us?” Kylo gestured towards the both of them. “About vampires?”

 

“Nah,” Phasma said, waving a casual hand to dismiss his fears. “Any suspicions she had are now gone. As long as you manage to keep the knights from tearing her apart or draining her of her blood, she should never be alerted to our presence. Unless, of course, you decide to tell her about it.”

 

“Thanks Phasma,” Kylo said. “I really appreciate it.”

 

“No problem, Ren,” Phasma said, mock-saluting him. “I’ll take my leave.” Smoke started to gather around her body, a mystical sort of mix between smoke and fog. Before she left, Phasma spoke out one last time.   
  
“Don’t hurt her too roughly, Ren. She’s just a mere mortal; she’s as fragile as a dove in your hands.”

 

Her words echoed around the room long after she faded away, and they lingered in Kylo’s mind for what seemed like an eternity. Soon after Phasma’s departure, Rey’s calm and composed breaths were the only sounds that echoed across his empty room.

 

He liked it when she was here. She just emitted this odd sort of serenity and peace that he never knew he craved.

 

Would it be so bad if he just...kept...her here?

 

He could go around and erase all of her friends’ memories of her. No more univerity, no more favorite restaurants, no more attached friends. She would be just his and his alone. Just one bite would be enough to turn her.

 

An immortal Rey. Forever frozen in beauty and grace.

 

Her phone buzzed.

 

Faster than the human eye could follow, Kylo picked up Rey’s phone and quickly scanned the message. It was from another human, most likely a mortal, named “Jessica”.

 

The rest of the message sounded foolish. Something about shopping. And clothes.

 

No, Kylo couldn’t just keep her here. Her life was not his yet.

 

Besides, he liked watching her live.

 

He loved sitting in the shadows and just watching as she laughed with her friends. With each pulse of her heartbeat, like an unfailing clock, he felt a part of his broken soul mend back together. So many times he had gotten so close to her.

 

One time, he stood so close that his chest brushed against her back.

 

It was exactly February 26th. The tenth hour and the 36th minute. She had been waiting in line for coffee, and Kylo had stood just behind her. He didn’t want coffee. He just wanted an excuse to be near her and to feel her infectious happiness.

 

And to hear her voice, to hear the chipper tone that she used whenever ordering something. To watch as she fumbled through her bag for loose change and apologize repeatedly to the cashier for her foolishness. To notice how she combed her delicate fingers through her hair.

 

He remembered that there was a particular wisp of hair that just wouldn’t stay down on her head. He had reached out his fingers, had come _so close_ to touching her before she walked away to retrieve her coffee.

 

The male barista had smiled just a little too much at her. Just thinking of the memory made Kylo growl with frustration, and he shook his head like a dog trying to rid itself of fleas.

 

He opened his palm; and in the center of it was the necklace he had given to Rey just this morning.

 

It was broken. Iratan’s supernaturally powerful hands had easily broken the clasp.

 

Iratan hadn’t just broken a gift. He had tested Kylo’s power. Kylo had given the necklace, purposely on Rey’s 19th birthday, so that all the vampires in the nearby area would know that she was his and his alone. It was almost like a mark; like a beautiful leash. For Iratan to launch an attack on Rey, even after he saw Kylo’s mark, was a direct attack to Kylo’s authority.

 

It was a shame that Iratan had managed to flee after seeing Kylo arrive. Far and away he could flee, but Kylo would find him one day. He could hide all he wanted, but Kylo would find him eventually. It was just a matter of time.

 

Shooting another glance at Rey and relieved that she was still unconscious, Kylo quickly summoned another of his helpers.

 

_Hux._

 

With Hux, Kylo never spared friendly works or easy talk as he did with Phasma. As the ginger-haired vampire materialized out of thin air to respond to the summons of his master, sneers graced both of their faces.

 

“Kylo.”

 

“Hux.”

 

As Rey took her next breath, Hux’s face immediately snapped to the side to face her. As his nostrils flared and his eyes became red with hunger, Kylo growled a warning. Hux was unpredictable and untameable. He hated summoning him so close to Rey, but it was the best option in the present.

 

“Interesting. I’m quite suprised to see that you haven’t killed your little pet yet.”

 

Kylo grumbled, angry at Hux’s view on Rey. “She’s not a pet,” he said. “She’ll be a queen. One day.”

 

Hux raised his eyebrow. “If you say so, Ren.” He shot an almost suspicious glance back towards Rey. “Please, though, if you ever do finish with her, hand her over to me, will you? She does smell so delicious.”

 

Silent, like the deadly hunter that he was, Kylo sped forward at a supernatural speed and grabbed Hux’s throat in a choke hold. The two men tumbled onto the ground silently, grunting with the effort of holding each other off.

 

“I will never,” Kylo rasped, “Let you even touch Rey, much less taste her. Listen to me, and listen to me good, Hux. Under no circumstances are you to even _touch_ her. Do you understand me?”

 

Rey made a noise, almost like a grumble, and both men became as still as statues. Mortals could never know of their existence. But when Rey fell right back asleep and her breathing became even, the hatred and tension between the two men returned with just as much strength.

 

Hux glared at Kylo with hatred in his eyes, but nodded nonetheless. Silently, the two men stood back up, and Hux rubbed his now-bruised neck. “You don’t need to threaten me, Ren,” he said. “I wouldn’t touch that ugly rat if my life depended on it.”

 

“Good. Don’t touch her.” Kylo said, and cleared his throat. “I didn’t call you here just to give you this warning,” he began. Kylo opened his palm to show the broken necklace. Hux’s eyes widened ever so slightly and his eyebrows shot up to the heaven.

 

“My, my, Ren. You do seem to care for this rat. May I?” Hux asked, and Kylo nodded to allow Hux to hold the necklace and examine it. “Hmm. A blood pearl. You would waste a drop of your blood on this pitiless mortal?”

 

Kylo didn’t respond.

 

“It’s not too badly broken,” Hux said, “I can easily fix this quickly. Only the clasp is bent.”

 

Kylo nodded, satisfied. “Good. Get it to me as soon as possible. Bring it to Phasma when you’re done; have her place a tracking charm with me as the recipient.”

 

Hux blinked his eyes with confusion, but merely nodded. Kylo Ren was odd indeed. For one, he was taking care of a mere mortal, not draining her of blood as he would expect him to do. He had seen Kylo in action before, during feeding. The man was practically an animal.

 

As if sensing Hux’s degradement of him, Kylo nodded. In an instant, Hux disappeared just like Phasma, but his smoke was not black. It was a ginger color, gentle but dangerous. As the vampire left, Kylo breathed another sigh of relief and quickly rushed back to Rey’s side.

 

What was he becoming? A mother goose?

 

The sun was starting to peek out from the dark horizon; its orange and yellow rays of light creeping slowly into the sky and warding off the night. Knowing that he didn’t’ have much time, Kylo swept Rey up into his arms once again.

 

Even in her unconscious state, she still shivered when he laid his cold hands on her. Ever so slightly, her body shifted to move herself further from him. Her warmth, almost hotter than the sun, seemed to burn him.

 

Shifting her into a safe and secure position onto his back and grasping her hands with his own, Kylo managed to open his window pane. A gust of fresh morning air hit his lungs, and Rey shifted just a bit on his back from the oncoming cold.

 

Quickly, Kylo jumped out of the window, morphing into a giant black dragon as dark as the night.

 

\----------------------------

 

Poe Dameron wiped the blood of his dagger as he stood in the shadows of an alley.

 

He had killed how many tonight? Three? The vampires were getting everywhere. Everywhere he looked, he saw them. Every time he breathed, the air reeked with their scent. Even now, the smell of vampire blood lingered in his nostrils.

 

Now, here he stood. Underneath the apartment of the girl they called “Rey”.

 

The moment she turned 19, he had felt the shift of the energy in the air. With mind manipulation, and some very heavy persuasion, he managed to become her friend Jessica’s “friendly pal”.

 

She was not what he expected.

 

He had expected a blue-eyed, blonde-haired girl with teeth as white as pearls and big, wide eyes. A girl who would be beautiful in each standard. A girl who would fit the term of a cupitaviri: a desire of all men.

 

But no. Rey was not what he had expected. There was no blonde, flowing mane; but rather three organized buns perched on the head of a girl with eyes deeper than chocolate.

 

Poe liked it. He loved the way Rey was down to earth and funny. She could hold a conversation; she could make people laugh, cry, frown, smile, and so many other things. The way she smiled was enchanting; how her eyes crinkled and her laugh bellowed with a loud, tinkling sound.

 

Poe might even say that she had supernatural powers. No one human could be so enchanting. It just could be possible; cupitaviri were usually killed off so fast that it was near impossible to know what powers they possessed. Could they manipulate minds? Fly? Morph? Teleport?

 

One thing was for sure. They’re blood, as told by many, whispered rumors in the dark of night; was apparently irresistibly delicious and powerful. One drop could make you as powerful as a god. For that reason; most of the cupitaviris died not long after their 19th birthday.

 

Which is why he was now currently standing underneath the window of Rey’s apartment. For some odd reason, she was not home. Poe couldn’t whiff even the tiniest amount of her scent. Panicking just a bit, he whipped out his phone, ready to alert the rest of the vampires hunters, the Resistance, about Rey’s absence.

 

But as the phone’s dial rang for the first time and Poe took a breath, he smelled her. Not just her. Something else; a _vampire,_ was mingled with her own scent. Hanging up the phone and whipping out his daggers, Poe became on full alert, poised and balanced like a panther. If there was a vampire, it would be dead before it even saw him.

 

As the scent grew stronger, Poe heard something else. The flap of wings. Glancing up to the sky, he watched as a giant, unbelievably huge and _black_ dragon perched on the roof of Rey’s apartment.

 

And there she was. On the monster’s back, sleeping like a newborn baby.

 

Knowing that it was not just any regular vampire he was facing, Poe quickly ran back into the shadows for a safer vantage point.

 

A dragon? A _fucking dragon_? Oh, his training did not cover how to kill such powerful vampires. Breathing deeply, Poe started to formulate a plan.

 

His regular daggers wouldn’t work. Maybe the pistol in his pocket? If he had time before the monster sensed him, he might be able to get a shot. Knowing that it was the best shot that he had, Poe quickly focused his gaze back on the monster.

 

Before his very eyes, the dragon shifted back into the shape of a man who still had Rey on his back. Knowing that Rey’s death was imminent, Poe raised his gun.

 

That black hair. He knew it. The man turned, and Poe gasped when he saw his face.

 

Kylo Ren. The leader of the Knights of Ren. Knowing that he stood no chance, Poe lowered his gun and clicked on the safety.

 

That one sound; his pulling the lever on his gun, suddenly made Kylo Ren’s head spin to face him. When those red eyes made contact with his own, Poe stopped breathing. This was it. He was going to die.

 

And so was Rey. Would the monster make him watch as he drank her blood?

 

Ren suddenly shifted Rey from his back into his arms, cradling her almost like a lover. The gentle gesture made Poe do a double take. What was this monster playing at?

 

As quiet as a mouse, Ren swung back down into the open window of Rey’s apartment. Laying her gently down on the bed, he climbed back outside; levitating in the air while he gently closed her window pane.

 

Rey wasn’t dead! If Poe could’ve sighed with relief, he would’ve. But for now, he was frozen in place.

 

Eyes now fixated on him Kylo Ren slowly floated back down on the ground and walked over until he was just a few feet away from Poe. A power, something dark and sinister, pinned Poe down to the ground and froze him body, making him feel more helpless than a newborn.

 

Gagging on the heavy smell of the vampire, Poe felt a sort of pride. He must be the first person to see Kylo Ren and live. He could see every part of the monster in front of him. His red eyes, black hair, and skin paler than the milkiest white.

 

Ren walked even closer.

 

“A hunter.”

 

Even his voice was as dark as the night; a deep tenor that made shivers crawl up Poe’s spine like tiny spiders. Was he angry? Poe thought he sensed a mixture of contempt and surprise in the man’s voice.

 

Something dark pressed against his mind, and Poe gnashed his teeth at the sensation. For all his training; he couldn’t prevent this monster from entering his brain. All of his thoughts, memories, and ideas that he hid behind the mental barrier of his head were ripped painfully away from him.

 

“Don’t worry about Rey,” Ren said. “I didn’t harm. Nor would I ever.”

 

Poe let the surprise run through him. This vampire, the leader of a notorious gang of bloodsuckers, didn’t want to kill a cupitaviri? This was a first. Deeper into his mind the monster went. At the most recent memory, the feeling of Rey’s hand against his own, the man growled.

 

“Do you care for her?”

 

Poe didn’t even have to speak to let him know the answer. Of _course_ he cared for Rey. Nodding, with an expression that made him seen satisfied, Kylo Ren backed away.

 

“Take care of her. You say you care for her? Then prove it.”

 

Kylo Ren, after the last parting words left his mouth, then disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. The moment he disappeared, Poe’s body once again became his own. Gasping, gagging and trying his hardest to dispel the disgusting stench of the vampire form his body, Poe whipped out his phone.

  
“General Organa,” he gasped, “You’re gonna want to hear this.”


	4. Chapter 4

Rey awoke to the feeling of sunshine against bare skin. 

 

Groaning and stretching her muscles like she always did in the morning, she felt like something was  _ off.  _ Something, she didn’t know what felt wrong, but something just didn’t feel right. 

 

She reached for her phone, on her right-side bed table, but it wasn’t there. Glancing around the room while rubbing the fatigue out of her eyes, she spied it on the left-side bed table. 

 

Odd. She always put her phone on the right table. Maybe yesterday was just a long night. Shrugging and picking up her phone, she saw what she dreaded the most. 

 

5 missed calls from one Jessica Pava. 

 

Knowing that a confrontation was inevitable and that Jessica just might blow her door off of her hinges if she didn’t call back, Rey quickly dialed her friend’s number. As the dial rang, she started to make her way to the bathroom. 

 

Jessica picked up, and a giant flurry of excited words and shouts made their way to Rey’s ears. Wincing and distancing the phone just a little bit from her ear, Rey felt the oncoming headache creep into her mind. 

 

“Rey! Finally! I’ve been calling you forever!”

 

Rey took a pause from brushing her teeth to respond. Plopping her toothbrush down into the sink, Rey prepared herself to talk. “Yeah, sorry, Jessica. Just woke up. What did you want to tell me?”

 

“I sent you a text like last night. It says you read it! Why didn’t you respond?”

 

Rey quickly set the phone on speaker and checked her messages. Sure enough, there was a message from Jessica. How odd. She couldn’t remember ever reading it. 

 

“Sorry, Jess. I must’ve missed it.”

 

Jessica sighed on the other side of the line. “Eh. Don’t worry about it. I’ll get the bags to you somehow.”

 

Dread settled in Rey’s stomach. “Oh, no, no, you don’t need to worry about it,” she said. “Keep the clothes, I don’t need them. I appreciate the effort.”

 

“Rey! These clothes look  _ so good _ on you! You have to wear them!”

 

Rey sighed. There was no winning with Jessica. Mumbling a confirmation and a muffled ‘yes’, Jessica practically exploded with happiness on the other side. With promises to deliver the clothes as soon as possible, Jessica hung up. 

 

Rey breathed in the silence of her apartment. Jessica was a great friend; she was so kind and bubbly that her good mood always infected Rey. But today, Rey just couldn’t handle the real world. All she wanted to do was curl up on a couch and watch all the new episodes of her favorite shows. 

 

In fact, why not?

 

She never had classes on Sunday. It was the weekend after all; a time for relaxation and unwinding. The entire city seemed to be under a spell of peace; traffic was low and the sound of honking cars was more subdued. 

 

Throwing her Mac, earphones and phone on the couch, she gleefully rubbed her hands. Running eagerly into the kitchen, she attempted to reach the topmost cabinent to get her hands on some nice tea. 

 

Damn. She was too short. Sometimes, Rey considered getting a boyfriend just so they could help her reach the tea. But for now, she was on her own. Climbing onto the sink counter, she managed to reach the tea container and quickly clambered back down onto the safe ground with it in her hand. 

 

As she turned on the stove and filled the kettle with water, Rey opened the container of tea. Expecting the wonderful aroma of the fresh green tea leaves, she was met with disappointment. The container was empty. 

 

Screaming with frustration and slam-dunking the empty container into the trash, Rey felt the anger course through her body. For a good solid minute, she did nothing except run around her kitchen, screaming like a maniac and punching the walls periodically. 

 

Damn. No tea. Knowing that she couldn’t live without a good cup of the steaming elixir of life, Rey grabbed her purse and prepared to leave her apartment. As she stepped outside to face the world in her baggy sweatshirt and unflattering sweatpants, she saw someone she did not expect to run into. 

 

“Oh. Hi, Rey. Do you remember me?”

 

Rey blinked a few times in surprise. It took her a few seconds to formulate a response. “Yeah. Poe Dameron, right?” She extended her hand and Poe graciously shook it. Noticing how his hands were rough and calloused, she let her hands linger for just a moment longer in his. 

 

“Well, um, it’s nice to see you,” Poe said, his eyes sliding over Rey’s appearance. 

 

Rey laughed. “Eh. No need to try and flatter my appearance.” The two laughed, and as Rey good naturedly ran his hands through his hair, Rey noticed the bags in his hand. 

 

“Oh no,” she half whispered with fear, “Don’t tell me that that’s what I think it is.”

 

Poe had the decency to look guilty. “Sorry, Rey,” he said while shrugging. “Jessica wanted me to deliver these to you. I’m free for today, so I thought I’d just drop by.”

 

“Oh,” said Rey, not quite sure of what to say. Silently, Poe handed her the bags and she reluctantly took them. The two of them stood there for a while in awkward silence, and Rey finally decided to take action. 

 

“Do you want to come up?”

 

Poe’s face lit up like a little boy on Christmas. “If it doesn’t bother your schedule, that’d be great.”

 

And so, Rey found herself walking up the stairs with Poe Dameron trailing besides her. As she unlocked the door to her apartment, she inwardly cursed herself for not tidying it up. Wincing a bit as she opened the door, she hastily pushed aside some trash on the floor before opening the door a bit wider to allow Poe access. 

 

He sure had manors. Not even a wince or a flinch graced his face when he took in the appearance of Rey’s apartment. Pushing aside her laptop, Rey made some space on the couch and gestured for Poe to sit. 

 

She walked into the kitchen, praying that she had some sort of refreshments in her refrigerator. Grabbing the small container of grapes and the rest of a bottle of cheap red wine, she snagged a glass and walked back out into the living room. 

 

Poe wasn’t sitting on her couch anymore. Placing the food down on the table, Rey scanned the room for any sign of him. 

 

Ah. There he was. 

 

Leaning out of her window with nothing but his feet inside of her room. Shrieking, half out of panic and half out of fear, Rey ran over to where he was. “Poe!” She screamed. “What are you doing?” Tugging at the hem of his shirt, Rey tried to drag Poe back in. “Get back in!” She yelled.

 

Poe obliged, much to her relief. As he stepped back into the room, Rey immediately began to berate him. 

 

“Jesus, Poe! You could have died!”

 

“Eh, don’t worry about me,” Poe said with a slight smile. “I don’t die so easily.”

 

Rey laughed with him; although he really didn’t get the joke. Who could survive a fall from four stories up? Death came for everyone in the end. It was the only sure thing in this crazy world. 

 

“I was just noticing how your windows don’t have any locks,” Poe said. 

 

Really? He had risked his life just to check if her windows had any locks? “This apartment is a bit old, so some of the equipment is outdated,” Rey said, feeling a bit defensive. “I mean, I never bothered installing one because I just thought that I would never need one.”

 

Poe laughed. “Nonsense. You can never be too safe! Here; I know a really good locksmith in the city. I’ll install a lock as a birthday gift for you.”

 

“Ummm, you don’t need to do that,” Rey stuttered, unsure of what to feel. “I’ll be fine without it; don’t worry.”

 

“Rey,” Poe said, his tone suggesting that he would not budge on this matter, “I will install a lock for you. There is no argument.” With his icy tone, the temperature of the room seemed to drop. 

 

Rey shivered, feeling uncomfortable. “Umm, okay. Thank you,” Rey said. “At least let me pay for part of it.”

 

Immediately, with her collaboration, Poe’s tone became instantly more friendly and carefree. “Absolutely not. I won’t let you pay; since I forgot to get you a gift for your birthday. I’ll send the locksmith over at an appropriate time. I have your number, right?”

 

“Yeah, I’m sure you do,” Rey said, remembering how his hand rested over hers in the pub last night while she gave him her phone. 

 

“Let’s go out for lunch,” Poe said, gesturing the clock that Rey hung on her wall which currently red “11:30”. 

 

“Sure,” Rey said, before glancing down to her pajamas. “Um, I’m just going to change real quick. Go ahead and make yourself at home; there’s some grapes on the table.”

 

\------------------------

 

Swatting aside the hand that was draped against his shoulder, Kylo cursed the pub that Hux had designated as the meeting spot. With him at the table sat a few Knights, Hux and Phasma, and other nearby vampire lords. 

 

Pushing aside another scantily-clad women whose hands were practically  _ groping  _ him, Kylo could barely focus on the important topics that he should be discussing with those around him. 

 

“Of course we can’t attack their base directly,” Hux was saying. “The Resistance’s bases are always trapped with anti-vampire technologies. To go in directly would be suicide. The First Order currently has a great cover. It’ll be hard for the Resistance to know of our endeavors. Just one attack will be enough for them to be alerted of our plans.”

 

Phasma was having none of Hux’s shit. “You forget, general,” she said, “that I have multiple scores of troops that are ready to be commanded at any second. We have manpower; we just have to utilize it. And if we do suffer more casualties than we can expect; we can always create new recruits. Mortals are easily blinded by promises of strength and power.”

 

Suddenly, like fire, the sharp stench of a vampire hunter entered the lungs of everyone in the room. Hux sprang up like a spring in his seat, his gun pointed out towards the street. Phasma’s eyes, already red and blurring with magical power, were fixated on the images beyond the window. 

 

Kylo knew exactly who this hunter was. And sure enough, not a second later, Poe Dameron walked down the street. He knew that it wasn’t just a pure coincidence for the hunter to be wandering so close to their meeting spot. If the vampires could smell him, he could surely smell them. 

 

And he chose to ignore it. He walked into a den of lions. Why though? Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, Kylo stalked closer to the window to get a better view of the hunter. 

 

Poe Dameron’s scent was not the only smell lingering in the air. Something stronger, familiar, and all too tempting flitted into Kylo’s nostrils. 

 

Rey. She was here. To be more precise; she was across the street with Poe. 

 

Behind him, Kylo could feel the bloodlust in the room start to rise. The scent of a cupitaviri was something that no vampire could deny; and no one in the room was an exception. Even Phasma, with all her self control, shifted a bit in her seat with unease. 

 

“Ah, look, Ren,” Hux said, “It’s your little pet with a disgusting hunter at her side.”

 

Kylo didn’t respond. In his mind; he was digesting several scenarios. If any of the knights tried to grab Rey, he could easily dispatch them. He trusted Phasma and Hux enough to know that they wouldn’t dare to seize Rey. Well, not from right under his nose. 

 

Poe paused in his walk, and Rey stopped to stand beside him. As Kylo watched, Poe raised a single hand and waved in his direction with a cocky smirk on his face. His other hand gripped Rey’s, who was currently looking quite confused and lost. 

 

Kylo growled. He had spared Poe’s life so that he could watch over Rey. Judging by the way Poe’s hand was possessively holding Rey’s, he was doing more than just watching. Torn between killing the hunter and keeping him as protection for Rey, Kylo gnashed his teeth with frustration. 

 

_ It doesn’t matter,  _ he told himself,  _ Rey will belong to you in the end. She’ll never fall for this scum. _

 

Poe’s gesture was not easily lost on the other vampires. Outraged murmurs arose from the table, and a knight, whose name Kylo vaguely remembered as Algon, stood up and banged a fist on the table with malice. 

 

“Well,” he said impatiently, “Why are we waiting? We’ve got to go kill that fucking hunter! Tear the dog apart!” At his words, several of the men surrounding the table stood, and the sound of grinding daggers filled the room. 

 

Kylo had to act. Fast. Blocking the door, he finally spoke with a voice loud enough to be heard over the shouts and cries for blood. “Sit down everyone; we’re not killing this hunter.”

 

Everyone was bewildered, as Kylo expected them to be, but Hux was the first to speak up. “Ren,” he said with a face so sour it made him look almost pained, “What is wrong with your mind? You’re going to let a hunter walk around freely? God only knows how many of our brethren that scum has killed.”

 

“Sit down Hux,” Kylo said. “Were you not just talking about this? We can’t attack the Resistance yet.”

 

Hux glared. Technically, Kylo was right; but that was what he hated the most. “Really, Ren? One hunter is not the entire Resistance. We could easily kill him now; there’s only one of him and 9 of us,” he said. 

 

“That’s no regular hunter,” Kylo said, “That’s Poe Dameron. The best fighter that the Resistance has to offer. From the information we have gathered from our spies, it is safe to assume that he is close to General Organa.”

 

“If he’s such an important person in the Resistance, then all the more reason to kill him,” Hux said. 

 

Kylo sighed with exasperation. Sometimes, it was so hard to reason with Hux. “Don’t you think his disappearance will be easily noticed? Won’t the Resistance launch an investigation, and in doing so, learn of our current moves? So general, if you really value the First Order’s best interests, I suggest you let this one walk away.”

 

Hux knew he was right. With a face as red as a beet and fists clenched so tight that Kylo thought his bones might break, Hux sank back into his seat. No one else at the table dared to argue with Kylo, and the meeting resumed, albeit it with suspicious glances toward Poe. 

 

Kylo continued to ignore the ongoing conversation. His eyes were fixated on Rey. 

 

That was a new dress, wasn’t it? He had never seen her wear it. It was a good color though. Emerald that was greener than the seas of the bahamas. A deep shade of jade that reminded him of the untameable jungles of the South Americas. 

 

As Rey tugged on Poe’s hand one more time and the duo began to walk back down the street to whatever destination they had planned, Kylo felt a sharp pang of pain in his chest. 

 

What he wouldn’t give to be the one with Rey. To be the one spinning his hat obnoxiously like a 1970’s movie star to hear the way she would laugh without bounds. As Rey linked her own arm into Poe’s and the two walked off into the afternoon sunlight, Kylo curled his fingers into a fist so tight that it hurt. 

 

“So we’ve got the matter of the weapons manufacturing covered, which brings us to our next topic,” Hux said. “Ren, you should join us and stop lusting after your little pet. Our next topic does involve her, after all.”

 

Watching her for the last seconds before the tail of her dress disappeared behind a wall like a whisper of what could have been, Kylo finally sat back down at the table. Another woman sidled up to him, her fingers lightly wrapping around his shoulder. Kylo pushed her away. 

 

“Get to the point, Hux. How does this involve Rey?” Kylo asked.

 

Hux leaned forward in his seat, his face warped by an eager expression. “Well, aren’t you curious about the effects of the cupitaviri’s blood?” He asked. At the blank, almost bored look on Kylo’s face, he continued to speak. “What if I were to tell you that it could create more Immortals?”

 

Kylo snorted. More Immortals? It was hard enough to keep track of the current Immortals; Kylo included. “We’ve all heard the rumor, general,” he said. “Yes, maybe her blood can turn someone into a sort of god. Look at the facts though. No one’s survived long enough to see if it’s really possible.”

 

“There’s been plenty of people to survive,” Hux said. 

 

“For god’s sake, Hux,” Kylo said, exasperated, “They’ve all gone insane at some point. The only ones that are still alive are currently in mental hospitals.”

 

Hux, undeterred by Kylo’s negativity, continued onward. “Our scientists have developed new drugs that’ll help us vampires become less prone to the insanity. The formula will be quite easy, really. A few drops of the girl’s blood and some of the chemical powder will create enough for us to create more Immortals. If we manage to keep the girl alive for a long enough time; our supply will never run out.”

 

They were planning on using Rey like a blood bag. Kylo felt sick. “Godammit, Hux. I know you always have questionable plans; but this? Do we really want more Immortals? It’s hard enough to maintain control over all of the current ones.”

 

Hux growled. “Yes, I know how difficult it is to control moody, easily-angered, and arrogant Immortals. You did give me quite a bit of training, Ren,” Hux scowled, and Kylo scowled right back. “There is an interesting side effect of this drug. Our scientists say that since we’re using the cupitaviri’s blood, it is to her that all of the created Immortals will owe their loyalty.”

 

“So what you’re saying,” Kylo said slowly, “Is that Rey will basically be their...caretaker?” Kylo chose his words carefully, for Hux was a man with a sort of superiority complex. 

 

“Yes. It’s that simple. We take the girl and keep her under our control so we can use her blood. If we control her; we control the Immortals. With the Immortals, our army will finally be strong enough to crush the Resistance.”

 

This was not at all what Kylo had been expecting. His plan was different; and it involved a Rey who was willing and happy. But in Hux’s delusional mind; Rey would be nothing but a resource. 

 

“No.” He said. “You can’t do that to her.” 

 

Hux raised an eyebrow. “Look at you, Ren,” he said in a condescending tone, “You’re caring for a mere mortal. How very pleasant and weak of you.” Around him, the knights chuckled lowly. 

 

“We’re not doing this,” Kylo said, “End of discussion. The answer is no. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got things to do.” He stood and straightened his suit, walking to the door with an arrogant gait. 

 

“The Supreme Leader has ordered it. He has graciously given your 2 weeks to capture the girl.”

 

At Hux’s words, Kylo paused, his hand hovering just above the door handle. 

 

“What are you waiting for, Ren? Go and fetch your pet.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revelations are made, and Rey realizes that her innocent world is not as it seems.

Rey laughed once more as she and Poe rounded the corner. 

 

He had been spinning his hat with his hand like some absurd 70’s movie star, complete with a ridiculous accent at the end. All the while, Rey’s hand intertwined with his and they swung through the air like the swings that Rey had loved so much as a child. His hand was warm, much softer than she had expected them to be. Energy; like tingling electricity, shot through her body from the tips of her fingers all the wall to the strands of her hair.

 

It made her feel  _ powerful.  _ For some odd reason, her vision seemed sharper. Her hearing seemed to be more acute. The smell of the fresh lilacs across the street wafted into her nose with a stronger scent than ever before. 

 

For a second, for half a breath, Poe’s eyes stared down at her with shock. But when Rey craned her head to solidify her short glance into a larger view, Poe’s eyes were once again fixed on the horizon.  

 

Just before they rounded the corner, Poe’s hand shifted from her own to her waist. It was unexpected, yes, but it wasn’t unwelcome. For some reason, Poe’s hand just felt so secure and safe, like an umbrella on the stormiest day. She nearly melted into his grasp. 

 

It was gone. The moment Poe’s hand disconnected from her own, the weird, almost  _ supernatural _ experience of hers just disappeared. Rey convinced herself, told herself over and over in her mind, that it must have just been some odd hallucination; perhaps just a result of her lack of tea. 

 

They continued walking in silence. Curiosity, which had buried itself into her heart like a poisonous vine, finally got the better of her. “Who were you waving to?” She asked. 

 

Poe’s smile just grew larger. “Just a friend whom I haven’t seen a while.”

 

Rey hadn’t been able to see much through the dark window panes of the pub. “Did he wave back?” She asked. 

 

Poe laughed. “No, he didn’t; he’s exactly as I remembered him to be. I would be more surprised if he did actually wave back. Excuse me for my previous wording; we’re not exactly friends. More like acquaintances.”

 

As they both paused and waited for the pedestrian light to turn green, Poe continued to talk. “Speaking of acquaintances, I invited a few to our lunch to talk about something important. Do you mind?”

 

Rey nearly sighed with relief. Maybe with other people around, she wouldn’t act like some lovesick puppy. What was the matter with her? It wasn’t like her to fall in love so quickly after meeting someone. 

 

Well, maybe she might have some much deserved luck with Poe. Every other guy she had ever dated, or even  _ talked  _ to, would shy away from her the next day with frightened eyes and whispers of warnings. 

 

If she didn’t know better, she might think that she had some sort of jealous and celibate guardian angel. Or maybe God was just trying to tell Rey to just give up on love. Clutching Poe’s hand just a little tighter and hoping to herself that he would be different, her heart soared like a bird when Poe squeezed her hand reassuringly.

 

Poe started to slow down his pace, his eyes fixated on a bar that was not too far away. In a gentlemanly fashion, he opened the door and held it open for Rey before walking in himself. 

 

A group of people, quite a lot of them, (what happened to a few?) waved to Poe and gestured to some empty seats at the table. Poe waved back eagerly, but Rey shot his “acquaintances” a suspicious glance. 

 

One of them had an eyepatch. Another one, a woman whose head was shaved and sported numerous piercings, glowered and thumped an empty bottle of beer onto the table. And if Rey hadn’t known better, she might have thought that the man on the left had just thrown a  _ gun  _ into his bag. 

 

Poe, acting completely unaffected, merely sauntered up to the table in his usual cheerful manner. Pulling out a chair for Rey before sitting down, he greeted the man beside him. “Hi Chewie,” he said, and Rey swallowed her surprise at discovering that this huge six-foot tower of muscle and strength was called Chewie. 

 

The man responded to Poe, mumbling in some odd warbled speech that might have been a foreign language. 

 

The woman with the shaved head was the first to speak. “Sup, Poe?” She said. “Glad you recovered so quickly from last night.” The rest of the people around the table grumbled appreciatively at her words.

 

Recovered? What did she mean? Rey glanced up at Poe’s face, but that same old grin was still plastered across his face. Shrugging, Rey resigned herself to the theory that Poe must had just been drinking with some friends last night and gotten a nasty hangover.

 

“I’m fine,” Poe said. “That monster last night wasn’t more than just a chew toy.”

 

Rey was sure that the confusion was evident on her face, but Poe continued before she could ask for an explanation.

 

“As you can see, I’ve brought Rey today.”

 

Another girl on the right, whose hair seemed to be brighter than the pink bubble gum that was squashed on the bottom of Rey’s chair, leaned in and gazed at Rey like she was some extinct mammal. “Oooh,” she said, her tone full of wonder, “Is this her?”

 

“Yeah. Is she what you expected, Aldera?”

 

The girl, Aldera, leaned across the table and pinched Rey’s cheeks. Surprised and taken aback, Rey yelped. Aldera didn’t relent but merely jiggled Rey’s cheek like she was a small infant. 

 

“Ooooh, she’s so cute!” She said, looking at Rey like she was the newest toy under the Christmas tree. “I would never imagine the cupitaviri to look like this! An awesome hairstyle, cute fashion, and pinchable cheeks! She’s the whole package!”

 

Rey’s confusion reached new bounds. “What’s a cupi..ta...yiri?” She asked, struggling to remember the word. Aldera’s eyes grew as large as saucers. 

 

“Oh my god!” She said, clutching her chest and looking at Poe like he was the monster from her nightmares. “Poe! You haven’t told her yet?” 

 

Poe squirmed in his seat like a guilty child. “I just felt I should ease her into it. You know how much information it is, Aldera. To tell her all of it at once would be suicide. Remember Ethan?”

 

Aldera rolled her eyes. “Yeah, he went and got himself killed because of his naivety. I wouldn’t worry about that with Rey; she seems like a strong girl.” Shooting a comforting smile in her direction, Rey surprised herself by smiling back at the cheerful woman.

 

The next person to speak was a woman who sat directly across the table. “Well,” she said, “Let’s get right to this, girl. Are you strong enough to handle what I’m about to tell you?”   
  


Rey felt anger, fear, and contempt flow through her like a powerful river. “My name is Rey, not  _ girl, _ ” she said in a clipped tone, “And I am strong enough to face anything.” 

 

The woman with the shaved head snarled and slammed her fist on the table. “Watch your mouth, insolent girl,” she snarled, “And treat the general with the respect he deserves. You might be the first cupitaviri in centuries, but you have no right to be so disrespectful.”

 

Instead of being angered, the woman instead chuckled. “Calm yourself, Naldia,” she said, and the shaved woman lowered down into seat before shooting Rey another hateful glance. “As she said, I am known as a general.”

 

“A general for what?” Rey asked. “The army?”

 

The general chuckled. “No, my dear,” she said, “I’m the general of a group known as the Resistance.”

 

Rey frowned with confusion. Was this “Resistance” some branch of the military that she had never heard about? Was it a ragtag group of die-hard nerds who worshipped their war games with a bit too much enthusiasm?

 

“We,” the general said while gesturing to the people gathered around the table, “are soldiers for the Resistance. We’re not the type of soldiers that serve our country. We are hunters; not of deer and animals, but of monsters. Supernatural monsters.”

 

Rey gulped. These people were definitely nerds. World of Warcraft material. 

 

“We kill vampires,” the general said, “werewolves, imps, demons, everything you can imagine. The world that we live in is not the world that you believe it to be. There are monsters that want to kill us, and they’ll take any disguise necessary. Maybe that nice old grandma next door is really a succubus. Or that homeless man from the subway you see everyday? He might be werewolf.”

 

Rey wasn’t sure whether or not to believe her. Poe’s hand found hers under the table, and he squeezed hers with reassurance. 

 

“Listen to her,” Poe said, “She’s telling the truth. I, or my friends, would never lie to you.”

 

Rey gulped. “So, all of those monsters are real? The world is basically one big fairy-tale?”

 

The general shook her head. “Not a fairy-tale, I’m afraid; more like your worst nightmare. You have to believe us, Rey; we’re not some crazy and insane people that are overly obsessive over the Twilight series.”

 

Rey’s voice dropped to a low whisper. “Prove it to me,” she said. 

 

The general gave Poe a distinctively purposeful look. Poe, seemingly understanding the hidden message, suddenly brought his and Rey’s hand up onto the table. “Rey,” he said, “Do not scream at what I’m about to do next.”

 

What was he going to do? Propose? “Go ahead,” she said, looking at him with nervousness settling deep into his stomach. 

 

Poe took a deep breath, and Rey realized that she was not the only one who was nervous. A few seconds passed, and Poe laid his palm flat on the table with his fingers splayed out wide. 

 

Then suddenly, there was a fire. Tinier than a candle; with yellow and orange tints that seemed to dance in the air like graceful ballerinas. The flame was not what surprised Rey; she had seen fire before. What really surprised her was the location of the flame. 

 

Poe’s hand. His palm was on fire. 

 

Rey’s first reaction was to scream. Air filled her mouth; and she would have let loose the loudest scream of her life had she not remembered Poe’s command. Letting the scream die down in her chest, Rey searched for the next best option. Grabbing the closest bottle of beer from an offended Chewie, she quickly poured the liquid on the flame. 

 

Nope. Still there. Miraculously, Poe was not getting burnt. He should have been screaming in pain with skin that was turning black with burns. But instead, the flame was sustained on his calm hand, and his other hand held up his head as he looked at Rey with a smirk gracing his face. 

 

“Well,” he said, “At least you didn’t scream.”

 

Rey couldn’t talk. What was happening? Was this some elaborate magic trick that Poe had planned? Was Jessica about to burst out of nowhere with laughter and a hidden camera?

 

Faster than a snake, Poe’s flaming hand moved from the table into her direction. Before she could shy away, Rey realized that Poe’s hand was now placed against her arm. 

 

Fire and skin should equal burns, screaming, and pain. But instead of catching on fire and screaming for 911, Rey realized that the flame was not harming her at all. It merely tickled her skin like a feather; its yellow and red wisps like a caressing touch of warmth. 

 

“It won’t hurt you,” Poe said, “It can only kill supernatural monsters. Do you believe us now, Rey? This isn’t just an elaborate prank, we’re just telling you the truth. Do you believe us?” When Poe realized that Rey couldn’t speak, he spoke again. “Just nod if you do.”

 

Rey nodded so hard that she thought her head might detach from her neck. 

 

The general spoke again, and Rey’s eyes moved to gaze at the woman. “See, Rey? The world is not as innocent as it seems. We, the hunters, have pledged ourselves to the Resistance; a cause that believes in eliminating the evil in the world. Our duty is to protect the people; men, women, and children of all ages and races.”

 

Poe once again captured her attention, and Rey found herself staring into his warm and protective eyes. “We need to protect you, Rey, because you’re special. You’re not just a regular mortal and human. The blood that runs through your veins is more… appealing… to monsters.”

 

“What do you mean?” Rey asked? Wasn’t her blood just normal blood? Every time she had cut her finger, bruised a knee, or gotten a paper cut, the blood she spilled was always the normal and vibrant hue of red. 

 

Naldia, across the table, snorted. “It’s simple, really. All the vampires in the world are after your blood.”

 

Wow. Naldia really did take no time at all in her explanations. Rey’s mouth dropped open with surprise while fear raced faster than a car through her veins, her heart pumping almost painfully fast. Poe squeezed her hand and shot her another sympathetic glance while rubbing slow and comforting circles on her back and Rey could feel her heart start to slow its pace like a tired racehorse. 

 

Everyone was looking at her expectantly. The general’s eyes peered out from over her glasses, and Aldera’s eyes were as round as saucers. Naldia’s fingers tapped the table, and the harsh sound of her rings clanging against the metal rang across the room. 

 

Not sure what to say, the words stumbled out of Rey’s mouth. “Um, I can see why you’re all worried about me, but I won’t be needing any protection.” Rey liked a simple life, a life of freedom and adventure. If she was to be assigned guards 24/7, she would have no more privacy. 

 

“I’m afraid we can’t let you do that,” the general sighed. “These monsters, vampires especially, have supernatural strength and powers. One twist of their fingers could break your neck. Just let us give you guards.”

 

Rey shrugged. “Sorry, general, but I just want to keep my privacy.”

 

The general appeared to be deep her thought, her hand gripping her chin while she looked at Rey the way a chess master appraises their opponent. “Privacy. You should learn to let it go. For now, I’ll just give you just one guard. Poe Dameron will follow you around 24/7 in order to insure your safety. If anything happens, or if Dameron fails to keep you safe, I’m posting a full envoy around you at all times.”

 

Rey let out a sigh of relief. She could handle just Poe. Poe, as if reading her thoughts, shot her a smile that was so full of safety and reassurance that Rey almost melted in her seat. 

 

“Wait,” she said, “24/7? Will Poe be sleeping in my apartment every night?”

 

Everyone snorted with laughter, even Chewie, his loud bellow echoing around the vast room. Aldera giggled, hiccupping while training to regain her breath. “No, silly,” she said, “Poe’s won’t be living with you.” She shot Poe a knowing glance, saying, “Although I do think he wouldn’t mind.”

 

Poe and Rey’s cheeks both reddened. 

 

The general continued where Aldera left off. “Poe will be posted in a station near you,” she said, “And we’ve enlisted in the same classes as you at your university. Every morning, he will pick you up, and each night he will bring you back safely.”

 

Rey shrugged her shoulder. That sounded fine. She voiced that thought out loud, and the general gave her a satisfied smile at Rey’s confirmation. 

 

The general stood and brushed the dust off of her clean and crisp robes. There wasn’t a single wrinkle on them; each red stitching exactly where it should be. Neatness and organization were the qualities that the general exuded into the room. “Well,” said the general, “I’ll let you two go and get some much needed lunch. I’ll expect a report from you tomorrow, Dameron. The rest of you all are dismissed.”

 

At the dismissal, all of the hunters rose with a collective sigh. Aldera was the first to bound away, first giving Chewie a massive hug and moving over to where Rey stood. “It’s nice to meet you, Rey,” she said. “We’ll see each other soon!” Without another word, Aldera walked right out to the door, chewing her gum and blowing bubbles larger than Rey’s fist. 

 

Naldia was the next to leave. Merely nodding her head to each of the hunters with respect, all she gave Rey was a stone hard glance before she strutted out the door while pushing unsuspecting passerby out of her way. 

 

Chewie left next. Letting out a giant roar, he pulled Poe and Rey both into a bone-crushing hug. Rey barely had time to make eye contact with an similarly out-of-breath Poe before she found herself being squished by Chewie’s furry arms. 

 

As he ended the hug and murmured some more words in his odd speech, Rey was fairly sure that she caught the words “be safe” and “little ones.” As her love for the giant man/bear grew, Rey waved to Chewie as he lumbered out of the door, his giant frame practically scaring the crowd away. 

 

Poe’s hand slithered back onto her waist, and Rey let him draw her in close to his chest until her head could lean on his supportive shoulder. Walking peacefully out of the pub, both of them felt true peace. 

 

Rey should be freaking out. Thoughts of vampires, werewolves, and monsters passed through her head at dizzying speeds. But instead of running away from her problems, or, God forbid, drinking them away, she found herself to be calm in the face of the storm. Poe was her anchor and the only thing keeping her head from being submerged by the ruthless waves of her new reality. 

 

They ate a good lunch. “Szechuan beef”, he had ordered, and Rey thought that her tongue would explode at the spiciness. Crying because of the spiciness, but also because of her laughter, Poe had clutched both of her hands while they both laughed until their stomachs hurt. 

 

They watched a movie. What was it again? The sounds of the sappy, almost laughably fake screams of the actors in the horror movies seemed so far away. Poe hadn’t minded. Neither had she. In fact, they both had laughed at each death scene, when the actors dramatically fell, clutched the wounds, or screamed. 

 

_ Fight,  _ she had thought,  _ fight from death. Don’t just lie on the ground and give in! _

 

She hated it. The way their eyes turned glassy whenever they died at the hands of the killer. How easily their hands fell limp at the sides. How easily cut off their shouts and struggles were. 

 

That was the moment that Rey decided she would never go quiet into that dark night. She would rage, rage against the dying of the light. 

 

The rest of the audience had shot them strange glances every time they chuckled. She caught a few words here and there, “impolite”, “strange”, and “insane.” Dirty looks accompanied them as they had walked out of the movie theater, surrounded by frightened teens who vowed to sleep with the light on tonight. 

 

If only those foolish, foolish humans knew that the monsters in horror movies were like fairies compared to the horrors of the real world. 

 

Just a few hours ago, she had been one of those humans. Defenseless, vulnerable, and blind sheep stumbling around in a den of wolves. Ambling around their daily lives, unaware of the danger surrounding them. Unaware of red eyes watching their movements from the dark shadows of alleyways and failing to notice the wolf claws that some of their fellow humans sported beneath gloves. 

 

They hadn’t really eaten a full dinner. Jumping around from each food cart to another, they ate everything from Indian punugulu that made Rey’s mouth feel burned to the classic New York hot dog that tasted like childhood nostalgia on her tongue. 

 

“Age?” She had asked him, as they walked down near the Metropolitan Museum of Art with entwined hands. She was sipping on the rest of his milkshake, and he was finishing up what was left of her strawberry ice cream. 

 

“What does it matter?” He had replied, his voice softer than the gentlest breeze. “All we do is age. Each second that passes, our youth and energy slowly withers away like the flowers before winter. I’ve learned to savor every moment. Reach for reach second like it's my last breath. For all I know, it may just be the last second I experience on this earth. Death comes for us all in the end; it's our only friend and our only true enemy.”

 

She had grown quiet after that. 

 

“Or,” he had continued, the left side of his lips curling into a smile, “I could just say that I’m 35 years old.”

 

Rey gaped at him in shock. “You don’t  _ look  _ like you’re 35,” she said. “You could pass as an university student if you wanted to! How the hell are you going to explain your age to the professors tomorrow as a student?”

  
Poe smirked. “Who said I was a student?”

 

Uh oh. Rey knew exactly what she meant, and the dread of the realization made her shoulders slump. 

 

“You’ll see tomorrow,” he had said, helping her onto the park’s carousel as the music started to waft out of the speakers. Op. 64, by Haydn, began to drift into her ears. Rey had always loved this piece. “The Lark”, it was called by her elementary school teacher as Rey’s eyes had drifted lazily out the window. 

 

And it was a lark. The way the notes were separated distinctly but also slurred into oblivion. How the melody seemed to jump but also flow. How all the instruments played together like lovers yet fought like the fiercest enemies. Rey’s eyes closed, and her mouth opened to allow the melody to drift out of her throat. 

 

Something else joined in. The second violin. Opening her eyes, she found herself staring into Poe’s deep brown ones. He too was humming, his mouth slightly open as he gazed at her through lowered eyelashes that trembled with each of his breaths. 

 

It was a harmony. Pure and simple, yet such a difficult thing to achieve. Poe’s face grew closer and closer to her own, as their prospective hummings increased. 

 

The light drifted down from his eyelashes as they grew closer to her face. His mouth parted, a glimpse of pearly white teeth escaping between those lips sculpted by Adonis himself. 

 

She could taste his breath now. 

 

It tasted like  _ safety.  _

 

Rey leaned in. 

 

In a smooth motion, the carousel’s motion stopped. Clambering children and anxious parents chasing after their infants scrambled around the carousel’s platform, and the two of them were forced to draw away from each other. 

 

It wasn’t awkward for either of them. As Poe helped her down onto the ground, in his usual gentlemanly fashion that she was becoming so unaccustomed to, neither of them broke the contact between their eyes. It was a mutual understanding. Mutual attraction. Mutual desire. 

 

All the way back to her apartment he escorted her. Yes, he may have been commanded to do so by the general, but his gentleness was so tangible in the way the words “good night” and “be safe” rolled off of his tongue like poetic prose. 

 

She watched him leave before she walked up the stairs to her apartment. Further and further down the street he strided, that great big hat of his casted in shadows by the street lights. He stopped at the turn, turned around, and waved at her before disappearing altogether from her sight. 

 

She went up the stairs slowly. Savor each moment, Poe had said. Reach for each second like it’s the last breath. And savor she did. Her fingers brushed against the wall as she ascended, the tips of her fingers brushing against the bumps of the hard plaster. 

 

She learned to love that  _ click  _ that her lock made whenever she turned her key. 

 

She learned to love that smell of mustiness and well-worn comfort that greeted her when she opened the door to her apartment each and every day. 

 

And as she opened the door to her apartment to revel in the peace and the serenity that would soon become as rare as diamonds in her new life, she knew exactly what Poe had meant. 

 

Brush her teeth. Loosen her hair down from those three buns. Her hair was long now, reaching to right behind her shoulders. She looked just once into her eyes, hazel, green, and so deep, before turning around and heading to bed. 

 

Her window was open. The breeze was ruffling her lilac colored window curtains. Reaching over to close the window, she hesitated for just a second before picking up the new note and box on her bedside table. 

 

She knew what was in the box before she even opened it. And sure enough, the blood red pearl, framed in the delicate sphere of gold, stared deep into her soul. Struggling to get the clasp into the necklace, she wiggled it onto her neck before reading the note. 

 

_ Rey,  _ it read,  _ it’s me again.  _

 

_ Now you know. Everything. The truth. Trust Poe Dameron, Rey, you must believe what he told you. All of those monsters? They’re real. Imps. Succubuses. Werewolves. _

 

_ And they’re dangerous. Never get near them, Rey. They could rip your delicate body into shreds before you could even open your mouth to call for help.  _

 

_ Wear this necklace at all times. It’ll protect you.  _

 

No signature. Like always. But at the bottom of the note, there was another note. 

 

_ P.S,  _ it said,  _ tell Dameron to keep his hands off of my property.  _

 

Oh. Was Dameron involved with her guardian angel? Was he stealing something of his? Shaking her head and resolving to sort out this rest tomorrow morning, Rey quickly plugged in her phone to her charger and rolled onto her soft bed. 

 

Sleep came in seconds. Rey was surprised; usually it would take her hours to fall asleep at night and succumb to the darkness. Or had the darkness always been there? Waiting for her like some sort of lover?

 

\--------------------------

 

Kylo waited until Rey fell asleep.

 

When he could hear her heartbeat slow and the sound of rustling sheets finally died down, Kylo quickly clambered in through her window, making sure to stay as quiet as he could. 

 

She wasn’t wearing her pajamas tonight. Instead of the soft linen imprinted with images of cute cats that Rey donned each night, she had fallen asleep today in her green dress. The same emerald gown that he had seen during the afternoon. 

 

He loved that dress. He was jealous of it. It touched every part of her body unashamedly. Kylo wanted to rip it from her body and tear it to shreds for intimately touching what was  _ his _ and  _ his alone _ . 

 

Rey shifted again in her sleep. The strap of her dress fell loose and hung on her shoulder, giving Kylo a more personal glance at his love. As Rey shifted onto her back, her brown hair framing the pillow like the crown of a queen, Kylo could faintly make out the swell of her breast beneath her dress. 

 

He walked towards her, stalking the way a predator would. Pausing only once to notice the empty box on her bedside table, he continued onward until his shadow loomed over her entire body. 

 

She was wearing his necklace. The pearl, whose red center was pulsing and thrumming with energy, realized that its master was nearby, and turned into a solid gold color that would be blinding to the mortal eye. Had it been anyone else, like another vampire, (primarily Hux), a protective force field would rise up around Rey and Kylo would be notified immediately. But the pearl could sense the presence of its master, and the red center slowly dulled. 

 

She whispered again in her sleep. Something urgent, something so important that her brows furrowed together into deep wrinkles. It slipped out of her mouth gently, and she caressed it on her tongue like it was a sweet delight.

 

The word Poe.  _ Poe.  _

 

Kylo wanted to smash something. He wanted to grab Rey by her shoulders, shake her awake, and demand an answer for why another man’s name was on her thoughts. To whisk her away would be so easy; nothing would be left for police to find except for an empty window and curtains fluttering in the wind. 

 

He was on the bed before he could stop himself. His hands were pinned on both sides of Rey’s face, his giant legs easily framing Rey’s shorter ones. Her eyelashes fluttered in her sleep and her breath hitched just a bit as he shifted the bed with his weight, and Kylo felt a tiny spike of fear flow through him. What would he say if she found him?

 

She already knew about monsters like him. There was no way she would think he was a human. 

 

He growled just a bit as her scent invaded his nostrils. Twitching his lips and fighting back the urge to release his fangs, he growled ever so softly, like a mere housecat. 

 

He stayed there for a long time. Any normal human would cry out with pain at the sensation of tiring muscles, but not a vampire like himself. The night drifted away through his fingers, each minute slowly passing until the sun peeked out of the horizon like an old friend to call him away. 

 

Before he left, he made Rey his own. 

 

Ever so lightly and gently, he leaned down to press a kiss against her forehead. Holding back his lust and desire was as difficult as reigning in eager, impatient racehorses. 

 

As his cold, dead lips left her warm face, Rey sighed in her sleep. 

 

He sighed too, when he had to leave. He sighed as he closed the door. He sighed as he once again returned to the world of death and blood that he had become so accustomed to. He sighed when Rey’s heartbeat faded from his ears. 

 

Two weeks, Hux had said. 14 measly days. 

  
He better get started. 


	6. Chapter 6

Rey didn’t sleep well that night. 

 

Nightmares, like black demons that bit and nipped at the heels of her feet, chased her even into her dreams. They tugged at her like eager schoolchildren beholding a new toy, jerking her limbs back and forth in a rocking motion. 

 

Claws. Fangs. Devil horns. 

 

The rivers were red in her dreams- and she knew that it was blood by the way it  _ smelled _ . If death had a smell; she knew that it would be like the smell of blood, foul, evil, and lingering. 

 

And when she awoke, the harsh sound of the knocking door jerking her back into reality, the smell was all she could remember. 

 

“Who is it?” Rey yelled, her voice easily carried across her tiny apartment. 

 

“It’s Poe. Get up; class starts in half an hour, and I figured you might want to grab a bite on the way there,” he said.

 

Rey had forgotten all about university with the rush of the previous day’s activities. Shooting out of bed so quickly that her head swam with dizziness, she found herself in a battle against time to get prepared. And she was losing; badly. 

 

While she tripped across the room, brushing her teeth but also pulling on a pair of jeans, she quickly grabbed her backpack and slung it to the door. It missed, and Rey winced at the harsh sound that it produced. 

 

“Uh, Rey?” Poe asked, “Are you okay in there?”

 

“Yeah!” Rey said. Her voice sounded eager, and she had overshot in her attempt to sound normal while bouncing around the room half-naked and searching for her phone. “Yeah,” she repeated, “I’m fine. I’ll be out in a few.”

 

There was a long pause on the other side of the door. Then, “You just woke up when I came, didn’t you?” Poe asked. 

 

Rey laughed sheepishly as her way of a response. Finally ready, and dressed in an albeit wrinkled shirt, she walked outside. She turned to Poe. “Time?” She asked.

 

“That took you 3 minutes and 45 seconds. As of now, it’s 9:34,” Poe said. “Wow. You got dressed quick.”

 

Rey took it as a compliment, “Thanks,” she said in a casual tone, “It’s one of my greatest achievements in life.” Poe laughed at just the right time with a smile that was perfectly white. 

 

Rey walked down the stairs of her apartment with her appointed chaperone. As the exited onto the street that was already bustling with morning activity, Rey wasn’t sure if she was supposed to lead the way. “Do you know how to get there?” Rey asked, more out of curiosity than necessity. She could easily lead them to the university. 

 

“Of course I do,” Poe said, “I memorized it last night.”

 

Rey’s mouth dropped open. “Like, everything?” She asked in disbelief. “Like all the roads, subway lines, and everything?”

 

“Yep,” Poe said. “It is my duty to keep you safe. Yesterday was all fun and games; but I fear that it was but an illusion of reality. I’m here to guard you, not to take you to carousels.”

 

Rey didn’t know how to respond to that. Was he saying that he regretted yesterday? Did he forget all about that almost-kiss?

 

It was awkward, very awkward, for the rest of the trip. 

 

On the subway, they sat next to each other, their legs separated by the tiniest of inches. Neither of them were on their phones, which would have been a welcome distraction, so they settled for looking aimlessly around the train instead. 

 

They got off of the subway, and started to continue the land route. 

 

The road that they walked was more deserted than usual. 

 

In fact, it was eerily deserted. Nobody wandered the streets, and not a single car drove down. As if sensing her discomfort, Poe crept closer to Rey. 

 

“Something’s off,” he said. In those two words, Rey’s biggest fears started to flood back. Her nightmares clung to her once again, and her breath started to hitch in her chest. 

 

She barely noticed when Poe clenched her hand in a stone-strong grip and pushed her behind him for safety. 

 

“What is it?” She asked when she could finally talked again. No monsters were jumping out at them or tearing her to shreds. At least, not yet. 

 

Poe shushed her before speaking in a careful tone. “Concentrate, Rey,” he said. “Calm down and focus. Do you smell that?”

 

Rey shifted her panicky breathing down a notch and took a deep breath. At first, all she could smell was fresh air with a tint of the signature New York smell of sewage. But if she concentrated, if she  _ really  _ put her mind to it, she could smell something much fouler. 

 

The smell of death. Straight from her dreams. 

 

She coughed uncontrollably, and Poe hugged her tight to his chest while sob after sob escaped from her throat. The smell of death was new to her; and her lungs felt as if they were on fire. 

 

“Did you smell it?” Poe asked. 

 

Rey took a few more breaths to stop coughing. “I did. What is that smell? It’s horrible!”

 

“You smelled it?” Poe said, his voice laced with surprise. He muttered something under his breath, and Rey wasn’t able to discern his words as he ran a hand frustratedly through his lustrous hair. “To answer your question,” he said after he seemed to calm down, “That’s the smell of monsters. To be more specific, it’s the smell of vampires.”

 

Rey’s eyes widened with fear. Monsters. This was what, her second day knowing of their existence? She hadn’t even made it through a week. Soon she would be food, the newest morsel for blood-thirsty demons.

 

Her neck burned, and she cried out in pain. Was it a monster? A vampire? Was something ripping her throat? But when she looked down to gaze upon her own neck, she doubled back in suprise when she realized that it was her necklace. 

 

It was a solid blood-red when she put it on today. But now, it seemed to be  _ glowing _ . The deep red of it seemed to be churning, pacing to and fro like an untameable monster. 

 

Poe’s eyes were fixated on it to. His brown eyes seemed to turn colder, and his mouth became set in a cold frown. “Looks like I’m right,” Poe said. “There are definitely monsters nearby.”

 

He muttered something else under his breath, and Rey strained her ears to hear it and managed to catch a few words. 

 

“ _ He’ll  _ be coming soon, then,” Poe muttered, his voice laced with tension, apprehension, (was that jealousy?) and grim determination.

 

Before she could speak up, before she could find her voice and ask him what he meant by his words, Poe pressed something into her palm, and Rey looked down to see what it was. 

 

A dagger. 

 

Not a crude kitchen knife, or a useless pocket knife. No, an actual dagger. Its hilt was beautifully made of wood, intricate carvings tracing down the side like creeping vines. The dagger itself was pure black, so dark that it seemed to suck the light out of the day. 

 

“That’s mortemaes,” Poe said, “Metal designed specifically to kill monsters. I doubt that you’ll have to use it in this upcoming skirmish, but just keep it at the ready.”

 

After Poe finished speaking, an ominous wind blew across the road, and Rey shivered as it ruffled her hair and buffeted against her jacket. The smell grew stronger and stronger until Rey could feel herself gagging on the horrendous stench. 

 

Footsteps, unwelcomingly loud against the silence, pattered across the deserted road. 

Both Rey and Poe turned their heads to the source of the sound as a man walked into their view. 

 

He was tall, so tall that Rey swore the very sky seemed to rest upon his shoulders. Black hair framed a perfectly tanned face that currently sported a snarky smirk. Dressed in all black, with what seemed to be a sword hanging from his belt, he would’ve stuck out like a sore thumb in public crowds. 

 

“So,” the man said, his voice deeper and louder than Rey thought it would be, “We finally meet again, my darling Rey.” He inclined his head towards her like a mock bow. The look in his eyes, hungry and deep like a chasm of doom, made Rey shiver. 

 

He knew her? From where?

 

Something nagged in the back of her head. Something that screamed importance and significance. But right now, for the life of her, Rey couldn’t remember anything. Flashes and bits came to her, memories of screams and sharp teeth. 

 

The man was still looking at her, dragging his eyes up and down her body in an appraising gaze that made Rey feel as naked as the day she was born, when Poe spoke up. 

 

“Leave, vampire,” Poe said, “I’m giving you a chance to run away with your life. If you’re smart, you’ll take it. If you’re dumb enough to stay, I’ll be glad to end your miserable life.” Snarling at the end of his sentence, Poe thrust his hand forward as his magical fire sprang to life. It crackled and snapped, sparks flying into the air while the heat of it buffeted Rey. 

 

Instead of running away with his tail between his legs, the man instead laughed a giant chuckle that boomed like thunder. As he laughed, more voices joined in, until a giant symphony of screeches and cackles surrounded Poe and Rey from all sides. 

 

Fearful, Rey clutched onto Poe’s chest as what seemed like hundreds of vampires emerged from the alleyways, buildings, and even thin air. Soon, Rey and Poe found themselves facing a giant horde of monsters. 

 

“Ah, you see, hunter  _ scum, _ ” the man spit out the last word, “I didn’t come alone.”

 

Poe turned so that his mouth rested against Rey’s ear. In peaceful times, it would seem like a lover’s embrace, and Rey’s face would be beet-red with blushful flirtation. But now, Rey’s cheek was flushed red with fear as Poe whispered instructions in her ear. 

 

“When they charge,” he said, “Run. Run as far as you can. I’ll catch up to you later. Just keep running until you hit a public area with crowds; vampires can’t disturb the public peace. Nod if you understand me.”

 

Rey nodded. “What about you, Poe?” She asked. There was no way he could face all of those vampires at once. “Run away with me.”   
  


Poe smiled a smile that was both grim yet full of eagerness. “Don’t worry about me,” he said, “I can handle myself. Vampires are nothing.”

 

As they whispered to each other, the vampires had been restlessly stirring with mutters and grunts. 

 

“Ah, ah, ah,” said the man once again, drawing Rey’s attention, “We can’t have you two plotting to escape, can we?”

 

Poe shot Rey another glance. In that once glance, she knew exactly what he wanted to do. Soon, the vampires would charge, and all hell would break loose. Yes, Poe wanted her to flee, but Rey wanted to  _ fight _ . She was not a coward. She did not shrivel away in the face of death. 

 

But the decision was not hers to make. With a battle cry, all of the vampires charged towards them, the sound of their bloodthirsty screams causing Rey to wince. Brandishing her dagger, she prepared herself to hack and slash at the monsters. Poe, seeing how her weapon was being held at the ready, quickly shoved her away from him. 

 

“Run, Rey! Don’t do anything foolish!”

 

The fire around him grew until a giant wall of it, ten feet high, seperated them from the vampires. 

 

“Go, Rey,” he said, his voice laced with strain, “Run quickly. I can’t keep this wall up any longer.”

 

“But yo-”

 

Rey’s argument was quickly cut off. Yelling at her to run again, Poe’s wall of fire quickly crumbled down. The vampires lunged at him, and Rey screamed in fear of her… friend. Lover. She didn’t know what they were. 

 

She knew that she cared for him. A lot. 

 

But as the first vampire started to lunge for him, Poe’s hand shot out to hit the monster. The vampire screamed as flames engulfed him, Poe’s magical fire no match for the creatures of darkness. 

 

Poe could handle himself. He was right. 

 

Rey turned tail and ran. It wasn’t because she was cowardly; it was because she knew she would hinder Poe if she stayed. He could handle protecting himself; but would he be able to protect her? Rey didn’t have any magical fire ability at her hands; she had but one dagger. 

 

So she ran. 

 

Behind her, the man’s voice boomed. “Capture the girl!” He screamed. “Bring her to me alive and unharmed, and you shall share in the rewards! The hunter is the second priority; chase after the girl!”

 

Rey’s legs pumped even faster. It seemed like her track attendance in high school had finally paid off. Faster and faster she ran, passing deserted streets and alleyways. There was not a single person or car around. She was all alone as she ran and ran. 

 

Another pair of footsteps joined her. Looking to her right, Rey faltered in her steps when she saw another inhuman face leering back at her. White fangs peeked out from the man’s smile. His eyes, a deep red, looked deep into her own with a great hunger. 

 

She screamed as the vampire launched himself towards her, and Rey’s hands moved on their accord. 

 

Instead of a monster, a cold body was the only thing that fell on her. Coughing and panting from exertion, Rey realized what she had done. Her dagger, held out in front of her in a defensive position, had managed to pierce the vampire before his hands had even touched her. The body of the monster lay unmoving on the ground, his red eyes slowly dimming back to a normal brown as his fangs retreated back into his mouth. 

 

He looked almost  _ human.  _ Rey shook the thought from her head. The man was a monster, a vampire who had just wanted to kill her. Wiping the monster’s blood from her forehead, Rey sighed with frustration.

 

One down. Hundreds more to go. 

 

She could hear screams and shouts chasing her from the streets behind her, and Rey once again picked up her pace, a fast jog that had her out of breath in seconds. Feeling the cramp in her side, Rey cried out in pain before stumbling into a slow jog. 

 

She couldn’t do it. It hurt too much. Pulling herself over into a dark and deserted hallway, she hugged the wall while panting. In front of her was her dagger, the darkness of it stealing all the light from the already dim hallway. 

 

The screams got closer. 

 

_ So,  _ Rey thought,  _ This is how I die. Alone and forgotten with no one to remember my name after I wither away in a grave. That is, assuming the vampires don’t tear me to shreds.  _

 

Her hand shakily extended the dagger as the first boot rounded the corner. More vampires came into view; women and men with red eyes and white fangs. 

 

One of the women smiled. “Come on, girly,” she said, “Don’t be afraid. Come here!”

 

Rey shook her head as she slowly packed away. “No,” she said, her voice quiet. “NO!” She screamed once more, her voice so loud and confident that she surprised herself. At her rejection, the vampires launched themselves towards her. 

 

She slashed as many as she could. No matter how many of their comrades fell, the monsters still advanced forward in a never ending horde, clambering over the bodies of their fallen allies. Some got so close that Rey could  _ feel  _ their cold spittle on her cheek. 

 

She lost her dagger. It tumbled out of her hands as what seemed like millions of vampires launched themselves at her. Screaming, crying, Rey shot out her hands in a last ditch attempt. 

 

Something happened. 

 

_ Power _ flew through her body, pure and unbridled energy that made Rey feel like her body was burning. It was like she was the bridge, the pathway for power and strength. Or, maybe this was just what death felt like.

 

But she wasn’t dead. Opening just one eye, Rey noticed the giant heap of groaning vampires at the edge of the alleyway. It was like they all had been pushed back by a giant gust of wind; and they stumbled against each other. 

 

“Holy shit,” one of the vampires said, his eyes widening, “She’s a Force wielder!” His comrades muttered amongst themselves, some with fear and others with awe. 

 

“Don’t worry about it,” said the same woman that had tried to persuade Rey earlier, “I doubt she knows how to actually use it. She’s alone, and there’s what, 20 of us?” The woman cracked her knuckles menacingly. “Iratan didn’t say that we could have our fun with her before bringing her to him.”

 

They began to advance once more. Rey’s back hit the wall, and she knew that she was doomed. Judging by the sadistic smiles of the vampires, she was not in for a smooth ride. Images of torture, pain, and a million other cringeworthy possibilities flew through her mind at light speed. 

 

She wouldn’t close her eyes. If she was to die, she would keep them open. She wanted to look her killers straight in the eye as they killed her; she wanted them to know that she had no fear. 

 

Suddenly, a man jumped down from the building above her and landed right in front of her, blocking the surprised vampires from tearing Rey apart. 

 

All she could see from her view was a smooth and broad back. Lustrous black hair. Legs that seemed to extend all the way to sky with arms that looked powerful enough to crush a man. Was he a vampire? He didn’t smell like one. 

 

“Leave,” he said, some sort of odd power in his voice that made Rey just feel like walking out of the alleyway and never look back. “Go back to Iratan and tell him that the girl has escaped.”

 

The red eyes of the vampires seemed to glaze over like they were in a hypnotic trance. One by one, in a straight line, they walked out of the alleyway and their footsteps slowly faded in the distance as Rey held her breath. Was this a trick? Were they trying to surprise her so they could capture her more easily?

 

A few seconds passed as she and the man waited for the footsteps to completely disappear. 

 

He finally turned around when the last of the footsteps faded and Rey gasped with surprise, fear, and a billion other emotions.

 

She had seen this man before. In a dream. 

  
In a nightmare. 


	7. Chapter 7

There was nowhere else for her to run. Behind her back was the solid brick wall, and in front of her was…

 

An enemy? A monster? An ally? A friend? The one thing that she could say for sure was that he was not a stranger by any means. She had seen him before, but she just couldn’t remember where. 

 

He seemed so important. Like that one family member who always hung in the shadows but managed to somehow be the center of attention. Someone who screamed importance, power, strength, and,

 

_ Loneliness.  _

 

The emotion, not her own, flowed through her like the first trickling of a river in the spring. Overwhelmed by the sensation of  _ feeling  _ something that did not belong to her, of knowing that her feelings were not the only things that mattered in this universe, Rey gasped. 

 

And as she gasped, the man in front of her gasped in unison. 

 

His eyes flashed with something dark as he stepped just a tiny bit away from her. Something, it wasn’t evil, but it wasn’t pleasant almost. A bit of surprise tinged with a tiny bit of...sadness?

 

“Do you know me?”

 

His voice was deep. If  _ power  _ had a voice, Rey knew that it would sound exactly like this man’s tone. Inquisitive, suspicious, reassuring, condescending, and gentle all at the same time. It was a voice that Rey thought she had heard before. 

 

If she tried hard enough, she could  _ almost  _ remember the taste of soft strawberry ice cream on a hot summer day as strong arms enveloped her while that  _ voice  _ murmured to her from above. Was it reality? Or was she just hallucinating? Was her fevered mind making up visions?

 

The man was looking at her again. Worried and concerned, he looked at her the way any sensible human would to another fellow sick mortal. 

 

“Do you know me?” He asked again, and Rey swallowed back her confusement into her throat while struggling to find her voice. 

 

“Uh,” she said, stumbling over her words, “I’m not sure.”   
  


Should she have said yes? There was a part of her brain that was screaming at her for being foolish.  _ Of course _ she knew this man. He was her...

 

Her what? Why couldn’t she remember? Should she just have told him no? Should she just have lied and uttered a two letter word that would help get her out of this giant mess? Starting to hyperventilate once again, Rey’s breathing became racy and shallow as her hands clutched the wall behind her. 

 

“Calm down,” the man said, extending his hands to show her that he was unarmed. Or, was he trying to protect himself from her? “I won’t hurt you,” he said. “I promise. Now, are you going to hurt me?”

 

Rey’s voice came out quieter than a whisper. “No.”

 

The man lunged forward at her, and Rey would have brandished her knife once again if she held it. But something in her head screamed at her hands to  _ not hurt him, never him. Anyone but him.  _ And as Rey stood there, a battle between her mind and her sensibility, she found herself getting crushed into a giant hug. 

 

Her arms wrapped around his giant chest, and a part of her withered in happiness. 

 

_ Oh, Kylo,  _ said her mind,  _ you kept your promise.  _

 

\--------------------------

 

Kylo Ren had only cried two times before in his life. 

 

One time was when he was still Ben Solo. A young, clumsy boy still unsure of his placement in the world. He had fallen on the harsh pavement of his parent’s suburban home, back before his mother had decided to place politics before the care of her son and moved far away into the city. 

 

He had cried and fallen to the ground, fat and ugly tears rolling down his cheek as he held his bloodied knee in one hand and wiped away his tears with the other. 

 

His father had been the one to help him first. In his smuggling jacket that forever smelled like grease and felt as smooth as a baby’s bottom, he had been the first one to scoop him up and wipe away his tears. 

 

“Stop crying, Ben,” he had said in his trademark condescending tone, “Tears are for boys; not men.”

 

Ben had learned then and there what his father had desired the most. A man. Not a child whom he was forced to come back to from his dear smuggling missions with Uncle Chewie in the backseat of the Millennium Falcon while his wife was miles away in a busy city with no plans of returning. 

 

The second time Ben had cried was as Kylo Ren. 

 

It was when he had first stumbled into the empty alleyway to find a bloodthirsty Iratan practically forcing himself onto Rey. 

 

Her mouth had been open, a scream just about to wrangle its way out of her throat. And it was that sight, the sight of  _ his  _ Rey in pain, that caused Kylo to spring into action and drag Iratan off of her with a strength that he had not known he had. 

 

He had cried all the way back to his apartment with her body in his arms. 

 

_ Wake up,  _ he had wanted to say. But would she have liked what she would have seen? A broken, lonely man still unsure of his standing in this world? A  _ monster _ who lived off of blood, darkness, and death?

 

He had cried because he had realized that he would never be good enough for Rey’s innocent and cheerful life and that she would never be dark enough for his world. 

 

And now? Kylo Ren was crying for the third time in his life. 

 

As he hugged her, her skin so  _ warm  _ that he swore it was burning a hole in his coat, he let the tears roll unabashedly and unashamedly down his cheeks as he kept whispering “You’re safe, you’re unharmed!” It was like a prayer, and he said it over and over again, like a zealous pilgrim in the church of his Lord. 

 

Her heartbeat was killing him. 

 

It beat, loud and confident, pumping blood all over her mortal body. With each beat, Kylo  _ felt  _ something in his chest. With each pump of life-giving blood that flowed through Rey, Kylo swore he felt more alive. With each shaky breath that Rey took, her breathing constrained in his broad chest and encompassing arms, Kylo felt a spike of life flow through his whole body. 

 

He had forgotten what it felt like to be mortal and to actually  _ feel _ .

 

She was crying too. He didn’t know why; he just knew that he didn’t like it. Reaching down a thumb and gazing at her once more, he wiped away the tears from her brown eyes. They were just as he remembered them. Wide and unsuspecting like a deer in headlights. 

 

She let him wipe away his tears while she looked at him with an almost confused expression. “Why,” she muttered, sounding so lost and broken that it almost made Kylo cry again, “Why do I feel like I know you? Who are you?” She began to ramble, her lip quivering with each word. “Kylo, that’s what I called you, isn’t it? Why did I say your name? How do I even  _ know _ your name?”

 

She was frantic now, that same spark of fear now flashing through her eyes so quickly that Kylo might have imagined it. Her hands, balled into tight fists, pounded against his chest as the words flew out of her mouth. 

  
What was Kylo supposed to tell her? 

 

What  _ was  _ he to her? A guardian? A protector?

 

One day, maybe, a  _ lover _ ?

 

He got his first taste of what the future could be like in a vision. 

 

_ He had a beating heart and warm skin, and pulsing veins as he gripped Rey’s hands. They were both old, wrinkles on both of their faces, but they were young, so young in spirit like dying stars with molten cores.  _

 

_ They were watching their kids set the dining room table.  _

 

_ Their daughter had hair darker than the night but eyes that were deeper than molten chocolate.  _

 

_ Their son’s lips were as full as his fathers while his hair, windswept and mess, were brown locks that were just as beautiful as his mothers.  _

 

_ Kylo leaned over to plant a kiss on Rey’s forehead. “I love you,” he whispered, a mantra for the ages.  _

 

_ “I love you too,” she said.  _

 

Kylo jolted back to the present. Rey’s eyes, not so innocent as before but now filled with suspicion and surprise, gazed at his face. 

 

“What was that?”

 

Kylo binked. “You saw that too?”

 

Rey whispered her response. “I don’t know what I saw,” she said, her eyes glancing down towards the floor was a scrutiny that made Kylo glance down. What was she looking at? A bug?

 

He knew that wasn’t the case when he saw her beet-red face. Rey was  _ embarrassed _ . 

 

He tilted her chin up so his eyes hovered mere inches from hers. And surprisingly, she let him. Rey practically melted into his touch. 

 

“Rey,” he whispered, entranced by the way the smog of his breath brushed against her lips, “I think I-”

 

\------------------------------

 

“Rey,” he said, this odd man whom Rey had just met but who felt like her closest friend, “I think I want to-”

 

What did he think? Did he want to kill her? Murder her? Kiss her?

 

The last thought would have made Rey blush had they not been interrupted. Around the corner of the alleyway with labored breathing and shaky steps emerged Poe Dameron. And, thank the Lord, he was unharmed. 

 

“See?” He said, chuckling in his usual way as he placed his hands on his hips like some odd superhero, “I told you I wouldn't die, Rey! Looks like you’re stuck with me for a few more-”

 

He stopped speaking the moment he truly saw the scene in front of him. And that moment was when Rey truly saw the scene for herself. 

 

She was embracing a complete stranger, their faces so close that she could lean in and easily close the few centimeters in between and kiss him. 

 

Poe’s eyes narrowed, such anger and hatred in them that Rey had never seen before in her life. “ _ You, _ ” Poe breathed, his voice as low as a growl. His fists clenched, and Rey could see the first telltale sparks of fire start to rise into the air. 

 

“Rey,” Poe breathed, his voice low and dangerous. 

 

Rey didn’t respond. Poe spoke again. 

 

“Rey! Get over here!”

 

At first, the stranger’s eyes flashed with something lonely, something that just screamed  _ don’t leave me alone _ . But in the next second, he was pushing her towards Poe with ruthless abandon. 

 

Poe clutched Rey the moment she was near enough, and he practically shoved her behind him with such intensity that Rey stumbled and nearly fell. In the next second, he was already in front of her with the intent of being a human shield. 

 

Poe opened his palm again, and his mystical fire roared again to life. 

 

The man was not afraid. He did not look at Poe’s fire without the same fear that Rey had seen in the hordes of vampires that Poe had already killed. He did not flinch or wince nor shrink away or try to escape. 

 

He seemed almost bored. Raising an eyebrow and glancing at Poe the way any enthusiast would judge a collector’s item, he seemed unsurprised and fearless. Smirking, he gave Poe’s magical fire a quick glance. 

 

“Really Dameron,” he said, “You think  _ that  _ can hurt me?” All of the gentleness that he had treated Rey with was now gone, and replaced with a cold demeanor that could send mortals straight to hell. A wind picked up; so cold that it was like a blizzard. 

 

Shivering, Rey clutched a little harder onto Poe’s back. Feeling how frozen she was, Poe quickly and efficiently wrapped his own jacket around her, but his eyes never left his enemy’s. 

 

The same cold spark flashed in the man’s eyes as his gaze flickered over to watch as Rey shrugged on Poe’s jacket. The wind grew colder and stronger, and the sensation of frozen icicles hitting her skin made Rey huddle close to Poe for warmth. 

 

Poe’s hand clutched hers. If she hadn’t been surprised by his audacity and suddenness, she might have tugged her hand out of his grip. 

 

“Here,” he murmured, “Take this.” He dropped some of the fire from his palm into her hand, and Rey gasped when the warmth of it tickled it skin. “Remember, it can’t hurt you.” The fire didn’t burn nor scar her skin. Instead, it felt like a soft, fluffy kitten in her hands. 

 

Something growled. 

 

No, not something. Some _ one _ . Rey tore her eyes from the mystical, dancing fire in her palm, and her eyes met the man’s. 

 

His mouth was curled upwards in a snarl. In that moment, he looked more like a monster than a man, and the growling sound vibrating from his throat echoed throughout the abandoned alleyway. 

 

“Ren, stop this.” Poe’s voice was clipped and guarded, almost as cold as the blizzard wind. “I don’t want any bloodshed between us. If you leave now, we can keep the peace between us.”

 

The man,  _ Ren _ Poe had called him, merely nodded with a reserved expression. “Agreed. Leave now, and we can say that this meeting never happened. I’ll clear up this mess with Iratan and his minions.”

 

Poe, when he grabbed Rey and dragged her out of the alleyway with a demanding grip, seemed unaffected and in command. But Rey, if she strained her ears, could hear the sigh of relief that he released. 

 

“Oh, and Poe?”

 

Poe and Rey both turned and waited for the man to speak again. 

 

“Don’t touch my things.”

 

Poe practically ran away from the alleyway, and Rey tumbled along with his fast speed, forced to by his grip on her arm. Her sneakers scuffed the sidewalk, and she could feel the start of a bruise forming on her wrist. 

 

They might have ran a mile, or two. Maybe they only ran for a minute. Rey wasn’t sure. But when they stopped, the blizzard was gone, and Rey could hear the sound of New York traffic, honking taxis and shouting pedestrians, drift into her ears. 

 

Poe seemed to be having a panic attack. 

 

He paced up and down the sidewalk, running a hand through his already ruffled hair and taking short, unmeasured breaths that were hasty and rushed. He was muttering words to himself, words like  _ impractical, failure, _ and phrases like  _ I should have known _ . Rey knew he was blaming himself. 

 

Determined to put an end to his increasingly annoying pacing, Rey intercepted him on his next turn and put a hand on his arm. 

 

“Stop it,” she said in a gentle voice. Poe raised his hand to ruffle his hair once more, and tugged his arm out of her grip and began pacing once more. 

 

Not easily deterred, Rey grabbed his arm again with such force that Poe was forced to look her straight in the eye. “Stop it,” she said, this time forceful. “It’s not your fault, Poe. Monsters are always going to come after me.”

 

“I know that,” he murmured, more to himself than to her, “I know that. I do.”

 

“If you know that, then stop blaming yourself.”

 

Poe shook his head at Rey’s words, a torturous expression on his face. Rey was reminded of the statues of saints she had seen on the walls of the church in Firenze, Italy, during her high school years. Their faces, brought to life by expert sculptors, were forever frozen in expressions of agony and suffering as they beheld the puny mortals admiring their stony forms with awe. 

 

Tiny ants crawling on the surface of the Earth. Wasn’t that what all humans were?

 

Poe was still shaking his head, and Rey reached out with her hands to hold his face between them. His eyes, still dark brown and so  _ torturous _ and  _ self-loathing _ that Rey wanted to cry, honed in on her own. 

 

“Listen to me,” she said, “This. Was. Not. Your. Fault. We can’t help these things from happening, Poe,” she said, her voice as gentle as a whisper. She tugged a loose hair from his forehead and brushed it back onto his head. “Don’t blame yourself. It hurts me when you do.”

 

Poe gently removed Rey’s hands from his face and let out a long sigh. 

 

“You’re right. You’re so right...I’m sorry, I just..” Poe began to stutter and took another deep breath to collect himself. “Alright. Let’s head back.”

 

Rey narrowed her eyes with confusement. “Don’t we have to go to class?” 

 

Poe’s eyes widened. “You _ still _ want to go to school? What the hell, Rey! You just got attacked by hundreds of vampires!”

 

Rey shrugged. “Eh. I just think that I should try to keep my normal life. That’s one thing I won’t let monsters tear away from me.” At her words, Poe shook his head in disbelief and chuckled. Feeling a bit defensive, Rey continued. “Besides, I don’t really think that my professors will appreciate me if my grades managed to slink lower.”

 

Poe laughed even harder. “Rey! You have a 4.2 GPA!”

 

Rey blushed. “I know,” she said, “I just feel like I could aim higher if I wanted to.”

 

Poe finally gave in. “Alright, fine. Let’s go then, shall we?”

 

They began walking at a brisk pace, and they were soon once again engulfed by the busy traffic of New York. The rest of their hike to their college was completed in silence. 

 

As the view of the main campus grew closer, Rey finally asked the question that had been preying on her mind. “Hey, Poe,” she said, “What happened to the vampire’s corpses?”

 

“You don’t need to worry about the police finding them,” Poe said. “After a while, monster corpses turn into dust.”

 

Rey grimaced. It would be a harsh way to leave the planet; a pile of ash lying on the ground. How many times had she trodden over ash on the way to school or work without knowing the true form of it? She shuddered. 

 

They entered the university, Rey using her student key card. She turned around, expecting to have to let Poe enter. But surprisingly, he had his own card. 

 

It didn’t look like a student’s ID. 

 

They walked into the building, and the usual students greeted Rey. Most of them shot a glance towards the new and handsome stranger striding by her side. More than one girl giggled upon seeing Poe. Rey couldn’t help but roll her eyes. 

 

And feel a tiny, just a  _ tiny _ twang of jealousy. 

 

She entered the classroom, and opened the door for Poe. When she couldn’t feel his presence, she looked around in confusion. He was nowhere to be found. What happened to his promise of sticking to her side like glue?

 

Shrugging, Rey figured that he probably had scented a monster or something and gone ahead to scout. Banishing the thoughts of worry from her head, she entered the classroom and walked over to where Jessica was waving eagerly. 

 

“So,” Jessica began, “Did you get the clothes?”   
  
Rey rolled her eyes and laughed. “Of course I did, Jessica. No need to worry. In fact, I already wore one of the dresses.”

 

Jessica’s eyes widened and she let out an appreciative gasp. “Oh my god! No way! Show me a picture!”

 

Rey had barely unlocked her phone and brought up the picture before Jessica tore it out of her hands faster than a bullet. It was a stupid picture, one of her on the carousel that Poe had taken. In her left hand was a giant cone of cotton candy, and in her right was the rein of the wooden pony that she had chosen to ride on. 

 

“You look so hot!” Jessica said, and Rey couldn’t help but blush at her friend’s compliment. 

 

Jessica quickly reached over and tapped the shoulder of one of the boys in the rows ahead. “Hey, hey, Mark! Jason!” The two boys quickly turned around to see what she wanted. “Feast your eyes on this!” Jessica practically shoved the phone into their faces.

 

It took them a few seconds to be able to actually see the picture. One of them wolf-whistled, and Rey was so embarrassed that she had to hide her face in her textbook. Jessica was always trying to score her a date, and today was no exception. 

 

“Damn, Rey,” one of them said, turning back to give Rey an appreciative look-over. “Man, you look good in this picture.”

 

Rey barely murmured a thank-you before the other boy began to also compliment her. Soon, the whole class had seen the picture. Girls were giving her glares, the boys were whistling, and Jessica was rubbing her hands gleefully like an evil witch. 

 

Someone threw her phone back at her, and Rey quickly shut it off and stuffed it in her bag. 

 

Where was Poe?

 

She looked around once more. He wasn’t sitting beside her; or behind her. In fact, he didn’t even seem to be in the same room. Feeling her heart rate quicken just a little, Rey began to panic. 

 

“Quiet, class!”

 

The loud voice rang with authority across the room, and Rey groaned. She knew that voice. Turning around slowly, she looked towards the front of the room to behold Poe standing at the professor’s stand. 

 

Jessica obviously did not miss the familiarity. She shook Rey’s arm so hard that she thought it might fall off. “Look! Oh my god! It’s that guy I brought to your breakfast!”

 

“Didn’t you say he was going to be a student?” Rey asked. 

 

Jessica shrugged. “I guess not.”

 

“Alright, nice job settling down and being quiet. It’s good to see that you guys can at least manage that,” Poe said, and the class burst into well-natured chuckles. “Now keep quiet so I can take attendance.”

 

Poe began reading the last names of the students in the class off of the list in his hand, squinting his eyes to get a better view at the names. Brown. Candall. Franchen. Horneken.

 

Rey didn’t hear him say Kenobi at all. 

 

Poe continued reading, and Rey could hear the murmurs of the class as her name was forgotten. It wasn’t until they reached the last name, Tornetta, that Rey was able to ask. 

 

“Uh, Professor?” She asked, and Poe lifted his head to look at her. “You forgot my name.”

 

Poe smiled, and Rey could hear all the girls in the glass sigh with appreciation. “Oh, don’t worry, Rey,” he said, “I already saw you.” Acting like not a thing was off and ignoring the mutters of the class at his revelation, he continued to check off names on the stand.

 

If looks could kill, Rey would be six feet under and pushing the daisies from below. All the girls, even Jessica, were shooting her stone-cold glances. Even worse, some of the guys had begun to whistle once more. 

 

“Rey!” Jessica grabbed her arm again and whispered in her ear. “Oh my god! What did you do with him? You  _ have  _ to spill the deets for me!”

 

“Nothing happened,” Rey murmured. “Nothing.” She couldn’t help but notice how disappointed she herself sounded, let alone Jessica’s face of sadness. 

 

Poe spoke again. “Okay. We’ve got that settled. Um, anyone know a Sogro?”

 

Someone shouted a response from the back. “Oh, he’s not here today. He’s probably off in his dorm sleeping off last night’s party.”

 

Poe nodded his head. “Is he one of those normal college fuckboys?” He asked, somehow managing to keep a straight and innocent expression.    
  


Rey spit out the mouthful of tea that she had been drinking. The class practically roared with laughter like a pride of hyenas, and she could feel their affection for their new professor start to grow. And when he smiled again, Rey could hear the far-off sighs of the girls. Including Jessica, who currently had a dreamy look on her face while staring at her new professor. Rey nudged her and whispered at her to pay attention. 

 

Poe clapped his hands together and rubbed them like a man ready for business. “Alright,” he said, “Let’s get started. I’m Professor Dameron, and I’ll be your Mechanical Engineering professor for this semester. Any questions before I hand out the syllabus?”

 

There was a question from the back row. “What’s your number?” A girl shouted out. 

 

A devious look crossed Poe’s face as he shot Rey a quick glance. Feeling dread and anticipation pooling in her stomach, Rey knew that whatever he was planning was not going to turn out well for her. 

 

“If you really want my number,” Poe said, resting his arms on the stand and displaying his arm muscles for the entire class to see, “You can just ask Rey for it. I'm sure she's quite familiar with it.”

  
Rey didn’t know how she managed to leave the classroom intact and unharmed by the other girls when the bell rang after the longest class of her entire life. In her right hand, she was clutching the class syllabus, the receipt for the most interesting semester of her life to come. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo tries a bit too hard and fails as usual.

Rey had to walk all the wall to the back of the building to escape the giant hordes of girls asking over and over again for Poe’s number. They had scrambled to ask her for his number, some girls even trying to  _ steal  _ Rey’s phone from her purse. 

 

The rest of her classes had been torture. Rumors always spread like wildfire among students, and Rey had gotten more than enough judgemental stares for a lifetime in just this one day. 

 

She hadn’t seen him when she and Jessica had gone out for lunch. She had expected him to linger around like an overprotective bodyguard and ward off the monsters; but he was nowhere to be seen. Had he been hiding from her and attempting to give her some sort of privacy? If he had, then Rey would be eternally grateful towards him. 

 

Another gaggle of girls emerged from the front entrance, and Rey quickly dodged back behind the wall to avoid being seen. Where was Poe? The last class should have ended 15 minutes ago. If her calculations were correct; he would emerge from the back door that the teachers usually frequented. 

 

Sure enough, Poe emerged from one of the back doors just a few minutes after the end of class. He had had the courage, the audacity to plaster a giant grin on his face. Rey stomped up to him, half ready to punch in his stupidly smiling face. 

 

“So,” he said, leaning against the wall, “Was it a nice surprise?”

 

Rey couldn’t bring herself to harm Poe. She hadn’t even ever killed something, even a bug, in her life before. Instead of dealing him bodily harm and giving him a well-deserved kick, she resolved to let out a frustrated scream. 

 

“Poe!” She screamed, stomping her foot while Poe laughed uncontrollably against the wall. “Don’t laugh! This isn’t funny!” When Poe didn’t stop laughing, Rey found herself joining in. 

 

A few minutes passed of them just laughing. Poe raised his hands, his face mimicking the expressions of some of the students. “And,” he stuttered, “And when I told them that-” he hiccuped once, “That you had my number, the girls in the back row had these _murderous_ glares.”

 

Rey laughed knowing that Poe had planned it all out from the beginning. She hated to admit it; but it was a pretty good prank. The two of them were still laughing when they made their way back onto the main road. 

 

The sun was dying. It’s rays of light; vibrants stretches of orange and yellow that wound their way across the sky like tendrils of heat and warmth that lit up the darkening sky. 

 

_ All good things must come to an end,  _ the sun seemed to whisper,  _ But that does not mean they can come again.  _

 

And in every day of Rey’s life, the sun always rose without fail in the morning. She would see, every morning from her tiny apartment window, the small tendrils of life that were her namesake. 

 

It was all she could remember from her past before screeching cars and burning metal. Rey. A Rey of light. 

 

She stared at the sunset for the rest of the journey home. By the time Poe had dropped her off at her apartment and said his last partings words, the last ray of light was already about to disappear behind the horizon. 

 

Rey took the stairs two at a time all the way up to her apartment and banged the door open. Running to the window, breathless, she opened it and quickly leaned out into the empty air to watch as the night reigned. 

 

She loved watching as the last ray of light disappeared from the sky. It was always a treat to her when the sky of New York City was clear enough to perfectly outline the show of a sunset, a giant collaboration of orange, yellow, and red.

 

And when it was all over, when the deep black of night seemed to settle upon the entire city like a blanket, she closed the window and quietly prepared for the night. 

 

Pulling on her flannel pajama shorts and tugging on a tee shirt that had been in her possession ever since high school, Rey quickly made her way to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth in the normal matter, flossing between each tooth and scrubbing the tips of her gums. 

 

Then, she heard a harsh noise coming from her bedroom. Not the normal rattle of her bedroom tables, but a harsh sound that immediately sent visions of nightmares through her head. 

 

She slammed open the door, and it smashed against the wall in her hurry to quickly see what was wrong. 

 

Her window. There was something on her fucking window. At first glance, she saw nothing but the head of an enormous dragon, and she chucked her hairbrush at the window before running back into the bathroom and locking the door.

 

_ So this is how it ends, _ she thought,  _ I’m going to get killed by a fairytale monster _ . She slid down the door, wrapping her arms around her head as she squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the door to be blown down. 

 

When a few seconds passed and she was still alive, she raised her head. Maybe it was gone?

 

She slowly opened the bathroom door, carefully enough that it didn’t squeak. Grabbing a bobby pin in her left hand, a pathetic excuse of a weapon, she peeked out from the corner.

 

There was nothing there. The window was still closed and her hairbrush lay still on the ground. Unsure if it was a hallucination, or maybe just a vision from her sleep-deprived mind, she hesitantly stepped out, with even and measured steps that were quieter than a whisper. 

 

She moved to the wardrobe, preparing to gather and organize her dirty laundry. As she stooped down to remove the flimsy hamper from the depths of her closet, she heard a slight knock. 

 

Was it from her door? She moved over to the door and opened it, half expecting to see Poe. But there was no one there, and Rey slammed the door open with an exasperated sigh. She really did need some sleep. 

 

She heard the knock again. Rolling her eyes at the ceiling, (maybe this was one of Poe’s pranks) she opened the door again with a sassy hand slung on her hip and an annoyed grimace gracing her face. 

 

Once again, she found herself staring at the dusty old wall across the hallway that was in desperate need of repair. Scowling, she closed the door. 

 

She started to throw all the clothes scattered around her bedroom into the hamper, unsure of which ones were clean and which ones were dirty. While she was busy trying to match a pair of socks, she heard the knock again. 

 

Screaming with frustration, she threw a pair of shorts that hit the door with a soft  _ thump _ . “Stop playing games, Poe!” Rey screamed, not bothering to lower her voice that would undoubtedly carry through the paper-thin walls of the building. 

 

She huffed out a sigh from her nostrils before resuming to fold her clothes. She glanced up to try and scan the floor for the missing sock, and heard another knock. 

 

This time, she managed to see a fist quickly tap on the window pane before disappearing. It wasn’t the door after all; it was the window! Running to the window, her heart beating with both fear and apprehension, Rey opened it and quickly glanced down the apartment building. 

 

“Holy Shit!”

 

There was a man, with the same hand that she had seen knocking on the window now resting on the window sill. However, the rest of his body was casually dangling freely in the air of the third story. 

 

“Oh my god!” Rey screamed, unsure of what to do. “Stay right there! I’m going to call the police! Don’t fall!”

 

She almost smacked herself despite the dire situation. Don’t fall? Really? That was the best piece of advice that she could give to someone who was about to fall to their deaths? Panicking and panting, she quickly ruffled her bedsheets and hastily opened her bedtable drawers in an attempt to find her phone. 

 

“I’m fine,” said the man, his voice sounding almost bored as it drifted through the window. Rey froze, her hands pausing as she rifled through the drawer. She knew that voice. It sounded so… familiar. 

 

She ran back to the window sill and took a better look at the man. As if sensing what she was trying to do, he raised his head so his hazel eyes stared right into her own. 

 

“It’s you!” Rey clasped a hand over her mouth. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Um,” the man said, casually scanning the city while he hung from a finger, “Just trying to get a good view of the city, I guess.”

 

Rey wasn’t sure whether she should laugh or hit him for being so foolish when he could die in any second. “I’m calling the police,” she finally said in an even tone, “They’ll figure out a way to get you down from there.”

 

She turned around, going back to her bed and looking for her phone. When she finally found its metal buttons hiding under her pillow, she swiveled back around. “Okay, I found it so now we can ca-”

 

He wasn’t dangling anymore. He just casually sat on her window sill, his bored eyes watching her as if she was an interesting movie. It was so sudden, how he managed to just appear out of nowhere, that Rey stumbled backwards and tripped on a textbook she had left on the ground. 

 

She shot out her hands as she screamed, expecting to land on her butt any second. But instead of the cold floor, she found herself falling into a pair of comfortable arms. The man quickly raised her up until she could stand on her own, and promptly dropped his arms from her waist. 

 

Rey had to push aside the part of her mind that whined at the absence of those strong arms. 

 

As a way of asking, Rey looked back and forth between the window sill, and where the man currently stood. No one could be that fast, right? You would have to practically teleport to get from the windowsill to where she had tripped to be able to save her. 

 

The man shrugged. “I did track in high school,” he said, as if it was an explanation. Rey merely nodded, dumbfounded at how fast he was. She tugged at the hem of her shirt, unsure of what to say. “Um,” she started, “Do you want me to call the police?”

 

He cocked his head to the side, and stared at her unblinkingly. “No. No police. After all, I just came here to talk to you.”

 

Unsure of what to do, or even how to respond to his direct answer, Rey averted her eyes to avoid his unwavering gaze that was both unsettling yet comforting. “Okay,” she started, “Well, what did you want to talk to me about?”

 

“Just...anything. Anything at all.”

 

“Oh. Alright then,” Rey said, sitting down on her couch and patting the chair right in front of it. “Do you want to sit down? I reckon that you must be still shaken from your near-death experience.”

 

He did sit down, and his gangly spider-like legs seemed to reach all the way across the room, when in reality, they only lightly brushed her own toes. He frowned. “Near-death? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

 

“You were hanging,” Rey said, enunciating each word, “Out of the window of the third story. If you fell, you would have died!” Her voice grew hushed at the end with nervousness that was unbecoming of her. 

 

“I wouldn’t have fell from the window,” the man said, with confidence in his voice. “I never have and I never will.”

 

Rey didn’t get what he was saying. Did he mean to explain that he was unable to fall? What did he mean by he had never fallen? Didn’t that insinuate that he had already hung from a windowsill… maybe her own… more than once? As Rey pondered the meaning of his cryptic words, silence fell until all she could hear was the occasional honking of outside cars. 

 

“What’s your favorite color?”

 

It was so sudden that Rey whipped her head to the side to look at him once more. Gazing into those beautifully warm brown eyes that were unblinking and unwavering, she found herself unable to resist responding. 

 

“Green,” she said, “Definitely green.”

 

“I thought so,” the man said, “You did look very pretty in that dress.”

 

Rey opened, about to say “thank you” when she realized that there was absolutely no way for this man to have seen her dress. The only time she had seen him was today, in fact, before university. How had he seen her? She opened her mouth to ask, with eyes narrowed in confusion. But before she could speak, she found herself interrupted. 

 

“Why do you care so much about school?”

 

Oh. This topic. Rey began to speak once again, all of her whispering doubts evaporating as she began to speak for the umpteenth time about her passion. “I like school,” she said, “Because education is the pathway to a good life. I see all these rich kids relying on their parents for money, bragging about their newest Tory Burch shoes. On the other side, I see all these poor children from worse neighborhoods barely scraping by a living yet trying their hardest in school. Life isn’t easy, and it sure as hell isn’t going to hand you everything on a golden platter. You want money? You want happiness and success? You better work for it.”

 

She finished speaking, and slumped her back into her chair as she gauged the man’s reaction. 

 

He was gazing at her with admiration. His eyebrows were raised, and he leaned forward on his chair with his elbows resting on his thighs until his face was mere inches from hers. “Interesting,” he breathed, “You would rather work for everything than gain a few gifts from an admiring donor?”

 

Rey shook her head rigorously. “Definitely,” she said, “There are people that are in much worse situations than me. Besides, I believe that what I have should be gained from my own work and money.”

 

“You don’t appreciate Jessica’s gifts,” the man breathed, and Rey immediately shot back a response. 

 

“It’s not that I don’t  _ appreciate _ them; I just think they’re unnecessary. I have a few pairs of dresses and a lot of clothing; I don’t really see the need of stocking my closet with more items than necessary,” Rey said. 

 

He smiled then, and Rey felt all the air leave her lungs at the beautiful sight of his god-like face. Chiseled cheekbones. Full lips. Arched eyebrows. Hair so luscious that its locks seemed to curl perfectly. “If I asked you to,” began the man, “Would you keep the green dress? Just for me?”

 

“Yes,” breathed Rey, before she could stop herself, “Yes. I will.”

 

The man settled back in his chair, and he finally looked completely comfortable. “Thank you,” he said. “I appreciate it.” His face turned as he regarded the dark night. “I miss the red,” he murmured, “It was so bright and vibrant.”

 

“I find that I enjoy the yellow more,” Rey said, and the man raised his eyebrows to regard her with suprise. Clearing her throat, Rey continued. “People think it’s overrated because it’s everywhere. I think it’s beautiful because it’s the one color that I can always rely on. No matter where I go, the yellow will always be there.”

 

The man nodded, seeming to agree. “I understand. Yet, red and yellow are too different. But when they combine, they create the most beautiful shade of…”

 

Rey spoke at the same time as the man. “Orange,” they breathed in unison, their eyes locking together. And in that split second, Rey found the thing that she desired the most. Peace. It flowed through her like a river, sweeping away her past and rushing away her past. 

 

And he felt it too. Rey could see the spark of recognition in his eyes that blazed with such fire that she thought it might consume her soul. 

 

In the next second, the man stood up so quickly that the chair squeaked on the bare floor and Rey jerked back into her couch. He moved swiftly, his long legs almost seeming to glide on the floor, and sat once more on the window sill. Rey followed him, half scared that he would try to jump. 

 

“Don’t worry,” he said, “I won’t fall, and I never will. My necklace looks gorgeous on you, by the way.”

 

Rey was dumbfounded. This was his necklace? She half wanted to tear it from her neck and force him to take it. But something in his eye, and the shadow across his face told her that she should keep it. So, instead, she sat down on the bed and watched as he lowered himself out of the window. He was about to disappear, when he turned back his head to look at her once again. 

 

“One last question?” He asked, and Rey nodded. 

 

“One more,” he said. “Do you ever think you could love me?”

 

Rey blinked. It was so sudden, so exhilarating and so daunting that it stole her breath away. When she next spoke, it was not her brain or thoughts, but rather her  _ heart, _ that truly spoke. “Yes,” she said, “Yes.”

 

He shot her a grin. A lopsided one that made his eyes crinkle. “I know,” he whispered. 

 

Rey couldn’t stop herself. Her own mouth opened of its own accord, and words spilled out over each in an attempt to hear the answer that she most desired. “What about you,” Rey said, “Will you ever love me?” She herself didn’t even know if she was being sarcastic or serious. 

 

He laughed, the sound of it sending tingles down Rey’s body that flushed deep and hot in her core. He looked at her with sadness in his eyes, and said, “Is that even a question, Rey?”

 

Before she could prompt him to  _ say more, to say anything else,  _ his hand let go of the window sill and he disappeared from Rey’s sight. She ran to the window sill and leaned out, expecting to find a broken and bruised body lying on the sidewalk three stories down. Instead, she saw nothing but a tree bending gently in the wind. 

 

It was like he had just disappeared into thin air, and he left no sign of his presence. The only thing left was the gentle breeze that caressed her face like a lover’s kiss. 

 

She closed the window, unsure if it had just been one big hallucination. Perhaps the part with the dragon was, but she couldn’t deny the way his eyes had peered into her own. 

 

She touched the cushion of the chair he had sat on, and found it to be stone cold. Not a single bit of the warmth that a human being  _ should  _ emit lingered on the fabric. Maybe it had been a dream. 

 

Like poison, the notion that Rey  _ knew  _ who he was dug into her mind like the gripping talons of an unrelenting eagle. As she tried in vain to sleep, her mind drifting to the open window while her hand clutched her necklace, she found a certain hazel-eyed black-haired face swimming before her eyes. 

  
That was how Rey fell asleep. 

  
And that was how she woke up the next morning.


	9. Chapter 9

For the first time in her life, Rey woke up punctual and on time. With her newfound time, she had managed to make herself look presentable, with cuffed jeans and a nice loose t-shirt that was decorated by the most simplest of necklaces. With an easy swipe of eyeliner and a small puff of blush on her cheeks, Rey felt as made-up as a china doll. 

 

When Poe rang the doorbell, she was prepared. She slammed it open not a second after he rang and smirked, letting him take in her presented and polished image. 

 

“Not late today, am I?” Rey asked, expecting him to chuckle or say something to suit his sarcastic nature, but Poe seemed more preoccupied with her room than her. She frowned, and tried to follow his line of sight, which led directly to the window. 

 

Her heart skipped a bit when Poe promptly pushed past her and stalked over to open her window sill and glance down towards the busy sidewalk with a . Did he know?

 

Poe crinkled his nose like he was smelling something foul as he gazed outwards from the window. 

 

Rey opened her mouth to respond, to tell or a lie or spill out the entire truth. Before she could say anything, Poe spun around to face her. 

 

“Don’t say anything,” Poe said, “I don’t need to know. I’ll be sending a locksmith over soon to help you fix that window.” With a curt nod of his head, he walked out of the apartment and called for Rey to follow. 

 

Like a small child, Rey stuck out her tongue at his retreating back before following. 

 

“What’s wrong?” Rey asked as she had to run to catch up to his long legs. For every step he took, she had to run a few feet. He seemed agitated, fearful, angry, and exasperated all at the same time. 

 

“You remember how I said that we, the organization of hunters, fight vampires?”

 

Rey nodded. Of course she knew.

 

“Well, the stupid blood-suckers asked us for a treaty.” 

 

Rey barely dodged a honking car while crossing the already traffic-jammed road. “A treaty. Isn’t that a good thing? Aren’t you guys trying to get peace?”

 

Poe scowled. “I know I can’t go against the general’s decision to accept the treaty, but I would kill every last one of them if I could. Let’s face it; being peaceful isn’t in a vampire’s nature. They love to kill; they need blood for sustenance.” He walked even faster, trotting down the stairs into the subway. While they rode to the next station, both of them stayed quiet in an attempt to keep the secrecy in public. The moment they exited, Rey spoke again. 

 

“Peace is good, Isn’t it? Look at the bright side,” Rey said, “At least a treaty is predictable.”

 

Poe threw up his hands in exasperation. “That’s the thing!” He was practically yelling now, and Rey had to place a hand on his shoulder to calm him down and ward off the nasty glares they were getting from passerby. “Look,” Poe said, a bit calmer this time, “There’s really no way to insure that the vampires won’t kill anyone. They’re unpredictable and violent, and for all we know, this treaty is just a trap.”

 

He swiped his card and they both entered into the university building. “I just can’t believe that they actually want peace. What’s even worse, they want  _ him  _ to come here and be the class’s tea-” He stopped talking, like a guilty child caught in wrongdoing. 

 

“What?” Rey tugged at his sleeve, “What were you about to say?”

 

Poe said nothing; he merely swiped his keycard and they both entered into the building. Rey muttered a goodbye to him, knowing that he had to go to the teacher’s lounge, and started to walk down the hallway. 

 

His strong hand wrapped around her wrist, and it forced her to spin around and look him in the eye. 

 

“Rey, promise me one thing,” he said. 

 

“Um, okay,” Rey said, uncomfortable with the stares they were now getting. Gossip would soon be spreading around the building like wildfire. She fidgeted, impatient for their conversation to be over. 

 

“Don’t do anything stupid,” he said. 

 

Rey scoffed. “Really, Poe, do you think I’m just going to run head-first into danger? Just so you know, ever since you told me the truth about monsters, it’s always been that the monsters find me. I don’t run into the world  _ asking  _ to be killed.”   
  


Poe lifted an eyebrow. “Really,” he said, “Just like last night?”

 

Rey sputtered with surprise. “What?” 

 

“Nothing, nothing,” Poe said, seeming to take back his words. “Alright, look. Don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

 

Rey glared at him, but he glared right back and she was forced to relent with a long sigh. “Alright,” she said, “I won’t do anything stupid, I promise.”

 

Seeming satisfied, Poe let go of her hand and began to walk towards the teachers lounge. As Rey walked down the other hallway, rubbing her sore wrist, she pondered over Poe’s words.  _ Just like last night,  _ he had said. Did he know what she did? Had he set it up to see how gullible she would be? Rey wanted to smack her head; maybe she should have just sent the man to the police. After all, who would let a total stranger talk with them about personal questions in their own unguarded apartment?

 

Rey walked into the classroom, walking as quickly as she could past the group of girls in the back. She needn’t have worried; it seemed like they hadn’t seen her Poe. At least, not yet. 

 

She sat down next to Axaya, another of her girlfriends. “Hey,” Rey said, breathless, while pulling out her binder. 

 

“Sup, bro,” Axaya muttered, doodling in her notebook wonderful masterpieces. She was always the artistic friend, and Rey had witnessed her artistic ability firsthand in high school art while she presented her own mess to the disappointed teacher. “You heard the news yet?”

 

Rey paused when she was removing her binder. “No,” she said, choosing her words carefully while her heart beat like a panicking bird. Had the people who had seen her with Poe already spread the gossip? “What news?”

 

Axaya shot her a bewildered glance, her green eyes full of surprise. “We’re getting a substitute professor for business class today. Apparently he’s some sort of famous CEO who teaches for fun.”

 

Rey breathed a sigh of relief, and tried to act casual, though her relief was eating her from the inside out. Even though Axaya wasn’t as gossipy as Jessica, Rey just didn’t want to complicate her life even more at the moment. 

 

Jessica chose that exact moment to barge into the room and scream. “REY!” The whole class turned its head in unison while Jessica continued to scream with flushed cheeks and an impatient demeanor. “EXPLAIN TO ME JUST HOW YOU MANAGED TO SNARE SUCH A HOT PROFESSOR!”

 

The room became an uproar. Jessica stalked over to her, a gleeful yet murderous expression on her face while the guys rolled their eyes and the girls in the back started to gossip once again like slithery snakes. Rey held her binder up to her face, desperate to hide from the unwanted attention that she was now gathering. 

 

Jessica tugged the binder roughly from her hands and squeezed Rey’s cheeks with such force that it started to hurt. 

 

“I’m so proud of you,” Jessica said, her eyes glinting with just a tiny hint of healthy insanity,  “You’re finally realizing how sexy and hot you really are! Just grant me one favor; when you’re done with him, hand him over to me, okay?”

 

Rey swatted her hands away from her face and hid once more in her shirt. “It’s nothing,” she muttered, “Really, it’s nothing.”

 

Jessica shot her a knowing glance, “Whatever you say, Rey,” she said, “You don’t need to lie to me.”

 

Rey threw her hands up in exasperation. “Jessica! All we did was talk!”    
  


Poe walked into the room, and Jessica didn’t have any time to respond. Thumping his papers onto his stand, Poe rubbed his hands together and faced the glass. 

 

“Okay. We’re jumping right into class today. I trust you’ve all reviewed the syllabus for homework and done the pre-reading that I assigned at the end of last class.”

 

At his words, the entire class grumbled. Rey knew many of the people in her class, and if she was right, then about half of them hadn’t even known there was homework. The other half probably knew about it but chose not to do it. 

 

“Quantum mechanics. Chapter 1. Open your books and we’ll get started.”

 

\-----------------------------

 

Rey was not the only student sighing with relief when Poe finally dismissed the class. It had been a grueling first chapter, and Poe had handed out so many worksheets and homework pages that Rey had almost filled up her new folder. Her hand was cramping, and her pencil had already been sharpened to half of its life. What type of teacher handed out so much work on the second class?

 

She was going to have to give Poe a good talking to. 

 

Axaya walked alongside her, quietly engrossed in her rubix cube that Rey knew she could solve in less than a minute. Rey appreciated Axaya’s gentleness and demure character; they were a welcome respite from Jessica’s sometimes-annoying bubbly nature. Her friend group, the three of them, were a perfect combination of all the best character traits. 

 

“A substitute english teacher,” Rey said, “Interesting. What happened to Dr. Smith?”

 

Axaya responded in a soft voice. “I don’t know. He just disappeared so quickly that it’s like he just vanished into thin air. Even the faculty don’t know what’s going on; I already asked Professor Jackson, and he doesn’t know either. I think Sarah said that he eloped with Aria and ran off to the Swiss Mountains to stop the upcoming zombie apocalypse?”

 

Rey rolled her eyes. Aria, as she knew, was sleeping off a sickness in her apartment. She scoffed. “Really; it’s like Sarah never runs out of conspiracy theories. Next thing you know, she’s going to be saying that the world is shaped like a square.”

 

Axaya chuckled along with her as they opened the door to the english room. 

 

There was no there, for once. All that she could see was a sign laid across the desk. In big, scrawly cursive letters that looked  _ so familiar,  _ it read, “Class 109, head outside to the picnic benches.”

 

Axaya and Rey headed wordlessly outside, both of them surprised by the sudden turn of events. 

 

It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining its rays down upon the glistening grass while the scent of fresh air wafted through the breeze. The birds had began to sing their chorus, and Rey’s excitement rose at the idea of the avians serenading her while she worked. It all felt like a disney movie. 

 

She could see the rest of the class already sitting on the benches and a lone man lying down in the grass. 

 

As they walked closer, Rey’s heart seemed to drop. That black hair… so luscious and beautiful… was already too familiar to her. And those long legs that seemed to expand like those of a spider? Rey felt faint. 

 

Sure enough, when she and Axaya walked close enough to see the man’s face, Rey felt her knees start to buckle. Why did it feel like fate was being so coincidental? Was her destiny so entwined with this man that their lives collided at every possible angle?

 

“Ah,” the man said, his hazel eyes just as beautiful as Rey remembered them to be, “The whole class is finally here. Sit, Rey, please.”

 

Rey glared at him while all the girls swooned and sighed at his marvelous bass voice. She glowered at him while she and Axaya sat on a bench, the furthest one directly across from him. 

 

The boys sitting on the bench beside him spoke up. 

 

“Dude,” one of them said in a hushed tone, “Is it true that you’re the vice CEO for the First Order tech group? You’re  _ the  _ Kylo Ren?”

 

Ah. Finally, Rey knew his name. Kylo Ren. A three syllable name that was both mysterious and entrancing. Now she had,  _ finally,  _ a name to match with the face that was now so familiar. Kylo didn’t take his eyes off of Rey while she was connecting the gears in her head, who was still glowering at him. “True.”

 

The girls giggled, some of them batting their eyelashes and tossing their hair while the boys high gazed at Kylo like he was some sort of god. “Wait,” one of them said, “Isn’t that company the one that hosts the annual ball at the museum?”

 

Kylo finally tore his eyes away. “That’s correct,” he said. “Every 29th of May.”

 

“Do you get to bring a date?”

 

Kylo turned his head to the giggling girl who had asked the question. “Of course,” he said, acting confused and so innocent that Rey didn’t believe for a second that it was genuine. 

 

Even when the girl continued to bat her eyelashes at him and twirl her hair in such an obvious attempt to flirt that Rey couldn’t help but roll her eyes, he merely scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. 

 

Axaya spoke up. “It’s already 1:07,” she said in a quiet voice, “Shouldn’t class be starting?”

 

Kylo glanced down at his watch, a beautiful thing made out of intricate gold and silver metals. He furrowed his brow. “Correct,” he said, “So let’s get started. No textbooks today; just critical thinking and role playing.”

 

The class murmured with excitement. Their previous professor was known for his boring lectures that would send the whole class into a deep sleep, and their textbooks were as thick as tree trunks. Critical thinking and role playing was a hands-on activity that they never got to do. After what seemed like months and months of reading endless pages and taking an eternity of notes, it was a pleasant break to finally be able to do something of importance. 

 

“All right. Pair up. Talk about how exactly a start-up can first utilize advertisement,” Kylo said, and soon the class began to pair off with their chosen partners. Rey turned to face Axaya, but found that she had already paired off with Mariah. 

 

Rey squinted her eyes. How odd. Mariah and Axaya had never even  _ talked  _ to each other before. What was going on? Did Axaya hit her head on something hard? They both seemed to be in a daze; their eyes glassy and fogged as they sat together on a bench.

 

“How perfect, Rey,” said a deep voice from behind her, “I guess I’ll just have to be your partner for the activity.”

 

Rey took a deep breath, crossed her arms across her chest in a defensive posture, and set her eyes in a glare before turning around. 

 

She found herself gazing at his chest. Cursing him for being so tall and wearing a shirt that seemed to perfectly hug his amazing abs, she dragged her eyes up until they met his. 

 

“What?” She arched her eyebrow, feeling cocky, “I can’t make a group of three?”

 

“I said partners, Miss Rey, not groups.” He tapped his ear in a mocking gesture and cocked his head like a mischievous cat with glinting eyes. “Learn to listen, will you? I’m afraid you won’t get anywhere in life if you don’t pay attention.”

 

“Cut the crap,” she said in a stern and serious tone, “Tell me why you keep popping up in my life. I know you can’t be a hallucination or a vision, and there’s no way that you’re a guardian angel.”

 

He shrugged one loose shoulder. “Maybe it’s destiny,” he said, “I like to think that’s it’s just pure fate.”

 

“Bullshit,” she hissed, “What do you want from me? Did Plutt send you?”

 

A confused expression graced his face. “Plutt? Who’s Plutt?”

 

Rey rolled her eyes. “Unkar Plutt. Did he send you? If he did, tell him to back the fuck off and that I no longer owe him anything at all.” She crossed her arms against her chest for extra emphasis. 

 

“I have no memory of any type of Unkar Plutt,” Kylo said slowly, as if he was choosing his words carefully, “And I was sent by no one. Is it really that hard for you to believe that I am merely your substitute teacher for just today?”

 

“Yes.” Rey’s response was curt. “You literally managed to enter my apartment through my  _ fucking window!” _ Her voice was loud enough at the end of the sentence that it caused several heads to turn. “You’ll be happy to know,” she said in more hushed tone, “That I’m installing window locks soon in the future.”

 

Kylo raised an eyebrow. “I’m not daunted,” he said, “There are many more entryways into your humble abode.”

 

Rey threw up her hands once again in exasperation. “Do you realize how creepy you sound right now? I could go to the police, and tell them that you’re a  _ stalker  _ who has managed to sneak into my home and slip me notes!”

 

Kylo seemed undaunted. “You kept my notes?”

 

Rey flushed just a tiny bit. “No,” she said, “I was just keeping them so that I could try and find out who was sending them. Now that I know what type of  _ creeper  _ really wrote them, I can finally return them.”

 

He shook his head. “No. I don’t want them back.”

 

Rey’s mouth opened in shock. She had went with a wild guess that he was the one who wrote her notes, and he had just openly admitted it! “If I went to the police, right now,” she said, “I could get you arrested and sue you for breaking and entering into my house more than once.”

 

He seemed unaffected by her threat. “You won’t go to the police,” he said, “And you won’t sue me.”

 

Something sweet, like honey, washed over his words and made them sound so sweet and irresistible. “Yes,” she said, her mouth moving in a monotone, “I will not go to the police or sue you.”

 

He smiled. “That’s what I thought.”

 

Rey hated the way that his smirk was so self-assured and confident. “Why are you here? Why does the CEO of the First Order,” (which was a company she had heard of but never read into,) “Want to suddenly teach a class full of inept kids?”

 

“I am merely pursuing my passion,” he murmured in a soft voice.

 

Rey’s answer came like a whisper. “What is your passion?”

 

Kylo’s eyes glanced down at her lips, his eyelashes fluttering while his breath hitched and his eyes seemed to flash with possessiveness. He leaned in closer to her ear, as if he was inhaling the scent of her, and Rey could feel each tingle that his breath made on her naked earlobe while shivers trickled down her spine like droplets of water. He whispered the three-letter word that she both feared and anticipated. 

 

“You.”

 

He left like a ghost, breaking away from her and moving to a nearby group. Rey was left breathless, her mouth stupidly hanging open while her hands hung limp at her sides. She felt weak at the knees with his revelation, even though all along she had known. It had been like a poison in her brain since the last time she saw him, a nagging whisper that had driven her insane. 

 

As she sat down next to Axaya and Sarah, her eyes still on Kylo’s broad back muscles, her mind was still in a daze. Axaya and Sarah’s conversation and debates were passing through her ears and drifting away in the wind. 

 

Who was that man? What did she mean to him? And most importantly, what did he mean to her?

 

She closed her eyes again, flexing her mind as she tried to remember why he was so familiar. A big nose that reminded her of soft ice cream on warm sunny days. Large ears that reminded her of laughter and happiness. Black hair that she had always loved to tug and pull. What was this?

 

He didn’t bother her for the rest of class, and she didn’t say anything to anyone; just merely gazed off into the distance, trying her hardest to remember. 

 

Memories were tricky things for Rey. They reminded her of those pop-a-weasel games that were available at every carnival. Each time you tried to grab one, each time you swiped out with quickness and speed, they mocked you and disappeared. Trying to find a memory was like walking down an unending road that turned and twisted for eternity. 

 

Maybe if she tried just a  _ little  _ bit harder….

 

The sound of tinkling backpack chains and rustling clothes was what disrupted her. Snapping back to reality, she realized that class was over. Axaya and Sarah had already stood up, and all the other groups were heading off to their prospective destinations. 

 

What was going on? Why did she feel so lost?

 

As she ambled along with the rest of the class, her feet dragging across the grass without gusto and life, she scanned the entire courtyard for the one figure that she wanted to see the most. 

 

But Kylo Ren was nowhere to be seen. It was like he had just disappeared into thin air. 

 

“Hey,” she said, tapping Sarah’s shoulder, “Where did the teacher go?”

 

The blonde’s eyes immediately widened and she began to speak in a fast tone. “Oh. My. God! I heard from Maya that he ran off to the swiss alps with Aira to stop the zombie apocalypse! Can you believe that?”

 

Rey shook her head. “No, not  _ that  _ teacher. I mean today’s substitute.”

 

“Oh,” she said, looking slightly deflated at Rey’s unenthusiasm for her theory, “I don’t know where that hottie went.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Although, I wouldn’t mind if he somehow made his way to my apartment tonight!”

 

Rey would normally roll her eyes at Sarah’s unending sexual innuendos, but she fought the urge and instead resumed looking for Kylo. She saw students lounging on picnic benches, and she saw squirrels scurrying onto trees where birds chirped. But nowhere did she see the broad back that she was looking for. 

 

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Kylo was definitely not a normal human. Who could practically vanish into thin air? Who was able to survive a fall from three stories and walk away unharmed?

 

Poe was still teaching a class. She could tell by how his voice boomed down the hallway. Sighing, she made her way out into the nearby alleyway. A nearby bench beckoned, and she sat down and gazed upwards at the sky. 

 

At first, she found herself gazing at the peaceful fluttering of the leaves, and entranced by the way the daylight seemed to sink through the green branches. In the next second, she found her view blocked by a human body. 

 

She screams, and all her lessons of self-defense finally kick in, in the form of a well-structured punch. 

 

Her hand never does manage to connect with flesh and bone and cause pain and screams. Instead, she finds  _ herself  _ gasping with pain, when her own fist is captured firmly and securely in the hold of the man. 

 

Not just any man. Rey groans when she realizes just exactly who it is. 

 

“Tell me why the hell you're here,” she grits out from between her teeth, “And will you  _ please  _ let go of my hand?”

 

He lets go immediately, stepping back to give her much-needed space as she rubs her soon-to-be-bruised wrists and fixes him with an apprehensive glare. His hazel eyes quickly flicker down to her wrists. 

 

He furrows his brow. “Did I hurt you?”

 

Rey’s taken aback by the pure sorrow in his voice, and the way his eyes are filled with self-pity and a look of inner torment that makes her own heart feel broken. “No,” she murmurs, glancing away from his shameless stare, “You didn’t hurt me. At least, not  _ that  _ badly.”

 

He nods; more to himself that to her. 

 

Rey shifts her hands awkwardly in her lap as he, a six-foot giant, looms over here like a tree. “What do you want?” She says, and she knows she has no need to be as curt and rude as she currently is. But something about the way he looks at her, with no restraint and as if she is the sun, makes her feel queasy. She’s never known a feeling like this before. Hell, no guy has even  _ looked  _ at her the way Kylo currently is. 

 

“Have dinner with me.”

 

She whips her head up in surprise. “What?” She winces at how breathless she sounds. 

 

“Have dinner with me. What type of cuisine appeals most to you?”

 

Her voice is still breathless. “Italian,” she says, still gazing into his eyes as he leans even closer. He gets so close that she should be able to feel the heat of his breath, but the breeze is the only thing that tickles her cheek. 

 

“Good,” he whispers back. “I’ll text you the location and time.” He turns away, so smoothly and efficiently it’s like he’s gliding through the air, and Rey watches his retreating back disappear around the curve as her legs pin her to the bench. 

 

It doesn’t occur to her until later, when she’s walking around in a daze through the maze of school hallways trying to find Poe, that she never tried to say “no” to his request. 

  
It also occurs to her that she never gave him her number. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY STAR WARS DAYY!!!!!!!
> 
> MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU!!!
> 
> Enjoy the update, my little sinnamon rolls <3<3<3

Unkar Plutt, a smelly, pernicious, and repugnant excuse of a human, hobbled his 300-pound body up the stairs to his clunky apartment and opened the creaky door to reveal an apartment that was a sad excuse for a living space. 

 

He strides into the apartment, and scatters a lump of bills onto the dinky kitchen island. It had been rent payment today, and the revenue had come pouring in. Plutt chuckles, and rubs his hands with self-satisfaction when he remembers how the tenants had practically  _ begged  _ him to take pity. They whined, telling him they could pay what they called the “horrendously inflated rent” next month. 

 

Not all payments needed to come in the form of money. Women, especially, could pay their rent in a different form. 

 

He goes to the outdated computer that sits in the corner, and quickly turns it on and brings up his email account. 

 

Typical things. Drug dealers asking for meeting spots and dealing areas, and drug addicts questioning the ETA of his upcoming deliveries. He clicks the power button, forcing the computer’s screen to blink to a faded black, and stands up with a grunt. 

 

He turns around and realizes that he is not alone. 

 

He stumbles backwards, and his hand grasps the table behind him, searching for any weapon. When his fingers brush the trigger of his gun, he whips it up and points it at his intruder with a shaky arm. 

 

The man steps out of the shadows; his pale face and raven-black hair painting him to seem like a ghost. 

 

“Unkar Plutt,” he says in a cold voice, and Plutt thinks without abandon that this man is Death: here to collect his soul. He never was a church-goer, having mocked the old ladies that prayed with their hands together and closed their eyes, but he always believed in Heaven and Hell. 

 

“Unkar Plutt,” he repeats, fixing him with a cold glare, “Is that you?”

 

Plutt’s tiny and plebeian mind isn’t yet functioning enough to start formulating lies to tell this wraith standing in his apartment. He manages to stutter out a yes, and nods his head so hard that it feels like it might fall off. The gun is still being held in his shaky hand. 

 

The man steps forward, and Plutt tries to step backwards but finds himself pinned to the wall. 

 

The man ruffles through his jacket, and pulls out a picture. He holds it up in front of Plutt’s face, and Plutt feels a shiver of ice flow through his body when he realizes that he recognizes the smiling girl in the photo. 

 

“Do you know this girl?”

 

Images race through Plutt’s mind at the image of the girl. Never failing to smile. Always begging him to lower the rent and screaming something about “unfairness and cheating”. Refusing to offer the ...other... form of payment, although Plutt wouldn’t have minded if she had. She was a bit young for his taste, but he would have enjoyed her nevertheless. 

 

The man’s mouth curves up in a grimace, as if he can see what Plutt’s thinking. 

 

“Do you know this girl?”

 

There’s so much anger in his voice, and Plutt begins to sweat. “No,” he says, trying to keep an even tone, “I don’t know that girl. I don’t know who she is! Get out of my house! I’ll call the police!”

 

The man made no attempt to leave the apartment. “Lower your gun,” he said in a calm voice. 

 

Plutt’s eyes widened with fear when he watched his own arm lower to the ground. Some invisible force, unseen, but not unfelt, seemed to twist and turn his muscles. While he tried in vain to fight this force, tried to jerk his arm successfully back up and fire at the man, sweat beaded on his brow.

 

Who was this man? Was he even  _ human _ ?

 

“Thank you,” the man said, as if Plutt even had a choice to lower his gun. “Now, I will give you one more chance. Do you know this girl?”

 

The sweat on Plutt’s forehead turned into rivers. “No,” he said, scared of what the man would do if he admitted the truth. “No! I don’t know her; I’ve already told you! Now, if you could excuse yourself from my apartment, I’ll give you a headstart before I call the police.”

 

The man slowly lowered his hand, the one that clutched the photo, and Plutt let a sigh of relief flutter out between his lips. 

 

“Wrong choice,” the man said. “If you had told me the truth, I would have killed you quickly. Now, I’m afraid, you won’t be getting any mercy.”

 

Plutt didn’t have any time to respond; all he could do was shout once with fear before an invisible hand started to squeeze around his throat. 

 

\------------------------------

 

Rey leaned against the wall, waiting to hear Poe dismiss his afternoon class. When she finally heard the telltale shuffle of papers and books, she barely had time to dodge to the side before a flurry of exhausted students ambled out of the room. 

 

Rey knew that Poe had not gone easy on the second class. 

 

He soon emerged, with rimmed glasses and a thick textbook crammed underneath his arm on one side. Sighing once, a sound of fatigue and restlessness, he turned to face Rey. 

 

“Ready to go?”

 

Rey nodded, and they both began to shuffle towards the exit. Sensing that he was in a better mood, Rey shot a glance towards him. “How was the other class?”

 

Poe shook his head. “Man, I don’t know… How do I phrase this? Do  _ any  _ of the girls in your class know how to handle a rejection?”

 

Rey laughed. “Let me guess; Olivia?”

 

Poe groaned. “Please, don’t even mention her name. I can still hear her voice vibrating in my head, and I’m pretty sure that I’m going to need advil when I get home.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry; I just can’t handle those type of girls.”

 

“Well, what type of girls  _ do  _ you like?”

 

A smirk started to grow on his face. “Hmmm, let me see. Brunettes, definitely. Brown eyes, yes. Oh, and I  _ love _ it when they wear their hair in three buns.”

 

Rey laughed, knowing exactly who he was talking about, and punched him squarely in the shoulder, making sure to add lots of force behind it. 

 

“I don’t know though,” Poe said, laughing and rubbing his sore shoulder, “Not really sure if I’m into violent girls.”

 

Rey smirked. “Sorry, then. Looks like I'm out of the running.”

 

Poe suddenly grew serious, his smile fading instantly to give way to a stern expression. “I wouldn’t say that you’re out of the running. I mean, there never really was a running.”

 

Uh oh. Rey knew where he was going. Only problem was, she didn’t know if she was ready to deal with the truth. 

 

Desperate to change the topic, to talk about  _ anything  _ else, Rey spoke before he could even open his mouth again. “So, I didn’t do anything stupid today,” she said. 

 

Taken aback but accepting the change of subjects with grace, Poe merely nodded her head. “I knew you wouldn’t do anything stupid. To say the truth; I was more scared that something would happen. Every time I have to leave me, I just get scared that monsters or some other supernatural shit will harm you.”

 

Rey smiled, and her heart warmed just a bit when she realized just how much Poe cared for her. It was one thing for Poe to do his duty and protect her when needed, but it was a different thing when he took her safety to heart. 

 

She reached for his hand, holding it in her own, and smiled up at him. “Thank you,” she said, “Thank you so much for keeping me safe. I know the general forced you to be my bodyguard, and all, but I know that you’re doing your best.”

 

He smiled down at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Anything for you, Rey,” he said, “Your safety is my number one priority. I’m not your bodyguard; I’m your friend.” He gazed off into the distance, averting his gaze from her. “One day,” he said, “I hope to be more than just a friend to you.”

 

He said it so softly that if Rey wanted to, she could act like she had never heard him say it. That was exactly what she did; for it seemed like Poe didn’t want an answer immediately. 

 

When they were on the subway, he let her lean her head on his broad shoulder and feel how each breath rocked through his chest while she fell asleep. He gently nudged her awake when they got off of the train, and held her hand all the way back to her apartment. 

 

He was, in every way, a perfect gentleman. He was the type of man that a girl would  _ kill  _ for; a man that would be forever loyal and loving. Why was it, then, that Rey couldn’t banish the image of a raven-haired and brown-eyed pale man from her head?

 

She hid her turmoil until she had safely closed the door behind her, and until she could no longer hear Poe’s soft footsteps thunking down the stairwell. When she was sure he was gone, she let her body slide down the wall, until she fell into an ungraceful heap on the bottom of the ground. 

 

Who  _ was  _ that man? Why was he so familiar?

 

Rey shook her head from side to side like a dog unable to get the last drop of irritating water out of its ear. It was nagging her; this unknown memory. His name was Kylo Ren, this she now knew. She had seen him three times already; during the vampire attack, when he snuck into her room, and today; when he was her goddamn  _ teacher _ . 

 

She needed to relax her mind. 

 

Plopping down on the plaid couch that was already worn down from so many years of use, she reached for her remote and fished it out from between the couch cushions. Shaking off a few crumbs that had already gathered between the buttons, she clicked the power button and began to flip through the channels. 

 

“Buy now for a discount!”

 

“Coming up next on Keeping up With the K-”

 

“Tomorrow’s high will be a 72-”

 

“Killed brutally at 6 p.m-”

 

Rey quickly clicked back to the previous channel, her heart stopping in her throat at the mention of murder. Was it supernatural? 

 

A stern-faced reporter, with an expression that was no doubt the result of years of well-practiced sorrow, sat behind a desk, and an image of a familiar man was printed on the digital screen before him.  

 

Rey shot up out of her seat, and stalked forward closer to the couch to get a better look. There was no doubt about it; it really was Unkar Plutt’s flabby face on the screen. 

 

“He was a caring man,” the reporter said, “And a human that did not deserve to be robbed of life so quickly and ruthlessly.”

 

Rey snorted. Unkar was practically the opposite of caring. Still; her curiosity was hooked. He was dead? How? Maybe he was killed by one of the drug dealers that he was always notoriously involved with. 

 

“His neighbor, an anonymous man who does not wish to be revealed, was the first to find him.” The reporter continued to speak. “So far, all the police can deduce is that this was not a robbery; for nothing of value seems to have been taken.”

 

Rey was about to shut off the TV, confident that it Plutt had just been killed in a drug skirmish. 

 

“The autopsy has revealed that he was completely drained of blood.”

 

Rey’s fingers paused on the remote. Blood. That meant vampire. Her body chilled, and she could have sworn that the temperature in the room had dropped by a few degrees. A murder had occurred in the city, a murder of someone that she  _ knew _ .

 

Rey wouldn’t deny that she hated Plutt. Still, a tiny compassionate part of her heart felt bad for him. No human, she thought, would ever deserve to be killed so ruthlessly by a monster. It was better to be oblivious about the true monsters that roamed the earth than to be forced to glance behind your shoulder every other second for monsters.

 

She continued to watch the channel, as a video feed from a police camera extended onto the screen. Plutt was against the wall, dead and motionless without any visible sign of blood. The camera zoomed in on the table beside him, and Rey’s breath caught in her breath when she recognized the person in the photograph. 

 

Brown hair that refused to be tamed. An unruly smile that just reeked of mischievous deeds. It was her, without a doubt, a Rey for the younger age. 

 

That picture was hers! She had been keeping it for  _ years,  _ had hidden it underneath her bedroom table and cherished it. In the background, there was a pair of strong, pale hands. She had never known who they belonged to; the image was cut off right above her head. 

 

Why did Plutt have that photo? Rey ran to her bedside table and quickly retrieved the photo, staring at it with such intensity that she might have started a fire with her gaze. 

 

It was the same photo. The same smiling girl. The same her. Then why was it with Plutt?

 

Something was wrong.  _ Very  _ wrong. Why would her photo be propped up next to a murdered man? A man that she had known; a man connected to her past. 

 

It didn’t feel like a threat; it wasn’t like the killer was insinuating that she was next. No, it felt more like a warning. Not to her specifically, but to the entire world. After all, hadn’t the entire world just seen that photograph on TV? Hadn’t they seen Plutt’s bloodless body? 

 

People that knew her were getting killed. Rey rubbed her arm, trying to dispel the goosebumps that were now rising on her arm. There were too many people that knew her personally. Jessica, Axaya, Poe… they were all at risk. 

 

She prepared to sleep with apprehension and fear. At every slight sound, she jumped. With every creak that the floor made, she winced. She double-checked the door to make sure it was locked, and slammed the window closed. When she finally climbed into bed after closing the lights, a kitchen knife was standing vigil on her bedside table. 

 

Her sleep was surreal; her dreams constantly interrupted by the harsh sound of reality. More than once, Rey sprung up in her bed, awake with attention at even the smallest of sounds. Every door creak; every whisper against the wall, made her heart leap and her skin tingle. 

 

At one point, when she jolted awake with screams and a hand grasped around the butcher knife at her side, she heard her phone vibrate. 

 

It’s bright screen illuminated the darkness with light, and Rey felt her heart stop. Who was it? Had one of her friends been kidnapped, and the villain was now asking for a ransom? Was this the cliche point in crime movies when she would have to become a detective and find the killer?

 

It was just a text message from an unknown number. Rey scanned it quickly, bracing herself for the worse circumstances. 

 

_ “ _ _ Meraviglioso Piatti. I will be outside at 6 p.m on this upcoming thursday evening.” _

 

What? Was the killer telling her where to leave the ransom? It took a few seconds for her sleep-deprived mind to understand that this was  _ not  _ from any type of murderer. In fact, she could scarcely remember the date that she had promised to a certain man. 

 

She groaned. The name of the restaurant sounded way too fancy. And on thursday evening, she had no plans so there was no chance of canceling. Promising herself that she would dream up an excuse, Rey fell back asleep. 

 

\------------------------------

 

Poe tapped his fingers on the table. The general’s face was graced with one of her signature scowls. Naldia beside him was practically shooting daggers with her gaze. Aldera was the only one who managed to retain an air of peace, while Chewie beside her was practically bristling with hostility. 

  
Across from them, the vampire’s faces held the same expression. 

 

“Get straight to the point,” Poe said, “What are you guys trying to gain from this treaty?”

 

The ginger-haired bloodsucker opened his mouth and seemed to be about to say something snarky and contemptuous; his face covered with a repugnant grimace. The girl, well,  _ giant,  _ beside him elbowed him and spoke up. 

 

“Is it really that hard to believe that all we want is peace and quiet? I think we both know that there’s been too much bloodshed; and this war is taking a huge toll on your organization.”

 

Poe scowled. As much as he would have loved to rebuke her statement and say that the Resistance was still going strong, he knew that she was right. The First Order no doubt had many more dispensable soldiers; but the Resistance was finding it to be harder and harder to find replacements for their dwindling number of hunters. 

 

It was bullshit. Plain and simple deception that could be easily practiced. The vampires wanted something; and they were willing to be peaceful to get it. 

 

Naldia scooched up closer in her seat. “Poe’s right; there is definitely an ulterior motive here. If you go ahead and spare us the lies now, it’ll save us all an awful lot of trouble in the future.”

 

The ginger and the blonde-haired giant shared a quick glance before turning back and facing Poe and the others. “Fine,” said the ginger, whose name Poe remembered as Hux, “We’ll tell you. Where is the cupitaviri?” All pretense was gone, no more false politeness and manners.

 

He was straight to the point, and Poe could hear his friends around him shift restlessly in their seats. The general spoke. “How does she tie in? She has no duty to our world.”

 

Our world. It was yet another reminder to Poe that Rey would never fit in with him and his friends. She would be unhappy, scared, and altogether too innocent for such a violent world. It hurt; he wanted her by his side, but he knew that she would be happiest far, far away from him. 

 

The door slammed open, and Poe recognized the black-clad vampire that strode in. 

 

It had been a while since he had sat in the same room as his childhood friend Ben Solo. Yes, he had seen him in that alleyway when he was tasked with seeing Rey back to her apartment; but that was a cryptic and personal encounter. 

 

As he sat down into his seat, his billowing cloak and black uniform of the First Order seeming to darken the entire room with its gloom, Poe could feel the general tense. Of course. This was the first time she had seen her son in over a year. Poe knew how hard it must have been for her to link all the recent murders the hunters had investigated to the kind, sweet, caring face of her son. 

 

Poe sniffed the air. He smelled blood. Newly shed blood.

 

“Excuse me, gentlemen,” Kylo said, lazily waving his right hand, “Please continue with the conversation.”

 

Hux shot one sneer over to his fellow vampire. “Always late, aren’t we, Ren? Anyhow, we were just discussing the topic of the cupitaviri.”

 

Poe was the only to notice how Kylo’s body tightened and became as taut as a string. 

 

Phasma spoke up again. “The girl’s blood is no doubt tempting and alluring, yet we still have much to learn about it. We cannot guarantee that one of our younger, more wild recruits will try to have a go at her. If you’ll just let us have her, then-”

 

Poe stood up so quickly that his chair was launched back. “ _ Hell  _ no, we won’t let you have her!”

 

The other hunters beside him stood up in anger, and Poe felt his heart warm at their support. They knew Rey; they had seen her during their lunch meeting and Poe had already told them so many stories about her. 

 

Hux and Phasma’s faces remained stone-cold, even as they were outnumbered by the angry hunters. 

 

“It’s for the best,” Kylo said in a monotone. “If you let us have her now, then there’ll be less bloodshed. She’ll help us expand our research, and we will acquire her by any means necessary. Of course, it’ll be much more preferable if you followed our wishes and handed her over.”

 

Poe smirked. “Really, Kylo Ren? You think that we’ll just let you whisk her away?”

 

“Fine then. We’ll let her make the choice. After all, all we need her for is research,” Kylo said, and Poe felt his heart clench with fear. What was he getting at? He opened his mouth to retort, but the general beat him. 

 

“Fine.”

 

Poe’s head whipped to the side. What was she saying?

 

“Fine. Rey will be notified about what is going on; she deserves to have a say.” The general’s eyes were fixated on her son, but they were as unreadable as a blank stone slab. “We’ll let her know.”

 

“No,” Kylo Ren said, “I’ll let her know.”

 

Poe laughed, and it came out as a short and crisp snort. “No way in hell are we letting you close to her,” he said, “So don’t get your hopes us. One of the hunters will let her know everything.”

 

Kylo Ren turned his gaze to Poe, and it was as cold as a winter blizzard. “I’m afraid I’ve already made plans with her, hunter. And before you ask, yes. She did agree. I did not force her; she made the decision out of her own free will.” He turned his head to face his mother, completely ignoring Poe’s hateful glare. “General? What do you think?”

 

Leia Organa was silent for the first time in her life, and Poe waited for her negative response. Instead, what his role-model said next made his blood chill. 

 

“Tell her. Meet with her and let her know what is really going on.” Leia leaned back in her seat and fixed her son with a challenging glare. “I doubt she’ll want to contribute to your so-called ‘research’, but be grateful that I’m letting you have a try.”

 

Poe wanted to scream with frustration. What was the general doing? Once the bloodsuckers got their hands on Rey, they would never let go of her. And this “research” that they mentioned sounded ominous and dark. 

 

He looked straight at Kylo Ren, and hissed “No. No. I’m not letting you get even a mile near her, you monster!”

 

Kylo raised an eyebrow, and Poe wanted to smack a brick into his bored face. “Really, hunter,” he said, “Why are you so possessive over a girl that you can never have?”

 

Poe curled his fist, trying not to let a flinch crawl across his face. Kylo had hit a nerve, but Poe was determined to show no weakness to his former childhood friend. “It doesn’t matter,” he seethed, “ _ You  _ will never, ever, get to touch her!”

 

Kylo shot up so fast out of his seat, with such a murderous expression on his face, that Poe had to step backwards in surprise. Never, before, had he seen such fire in those hazel eyes. “There is no argument,” Kylo said, biting out each word and enunciating each syllable clearly, “I  _ will  _ see Rey. No other option.”

 

He stormed out of the room, his dark aura lingering long after he was gone. While the hunters stood in shock at the sudden outburst. Phasma and Hux merely rolled their eyes and muttered under their breaths. They too, stood. 

 

“Thank you, gentlemen,” Hux said, sneering the last word, “For agreeing to meet us today.” He left without another word, and Phasma strode beside him as they left the room of the neutral base. 

 

Poe and the rest of the hunters walked cautiously out of their own exit, making sure to lock the door and quickly scan the room for any hidden cameras. Once he was sure that they were far enough from any spy bugs or hidden cameras, Poe let out all of his frustration in one giant flood. 

 

“How could they ask such a thing?” He kicked a nearby rock with such force that it collided with a tree and lodged itself into the wood. “We can’t let them take Rey, general,” Poe said, spinning around to face her. “I don’t want to see her get hurt.”

 

The general shook her heart morosely. “There’s nothing we  _ can  _ do, Poe. You know they could easily exterminate the rest of us. You know how smart Rey is; if she ever is in any dire circumstance, I have no trouble believing that she’ll be able to fight her way out.”

 

Poe said nothing. Naldia spoke up. 

 

“Poe, have you told her the prophecy?”

 

Poe looked awkwardly at the ground and scratched his ear, avoiding eye contact. “I… I might have forgotten to tell her.”

 

Naldia stomped her foot on the forest floor, anger seeping out of her pores. Poe braced himself for being the brunt of her anger, but the general intervened before any harsh words or insults were thrown. 

 

“It doesn’t matter about the prophecy; we can always tell her about that later. How about the dagger? Have you given that to her yet, Poe?”

  
Poe looked over into the forest scenery, and let his mind wander as he watched a mother bird fly back to her nest of chattering newborns. “No,” he said, “I haven’t given it to her yet. I don’t know, general. I just feel like she can’t bring herself to kill him.”


	11. Chapter 11

How was she going to tell Poe that she had a  _ date  _ for god’s sake? He was either going to laugh himself to death, probably make some snarky remark about how amazing it was that she scored a date, or he was going to be unconditionally angry. 

 

Rey waited for him to arrive; pacing around her room and groaning in frustration as she ran several possible mock conversations through her head. Was there any way that she could avoid telling him Kylo’s name? Poe had already seen him; he had seen Kylo after he had saved her from the vampires in that deserted alleyway.

 

Maybe Poe knew who Kylo was. Rey stopped her pacing; and a new plan raced into her head. If she managed to casually ask Poe, maybe quietly slip Kylo’s name into a conversation, she could finally figure out who he was. 

 

A knock on the door caused her to stop pacing. It was Poe. That she knew for sure. She opened the door, and mentally prepared herself for confrontational debates. 

 

“Uh,” she said, “Tomorrow I have something to do.”

 

“Something to do?” Poe sounded confused. “Well, you don’t need to worry about safety. I’ll be there with you.”

 

“No,” she said, “I would prefer if you didn’t come along.”

 

“What? Why?” Poe sounded exasperated. “Rey, I’ve been  _ ordered  _ to stay beside you at all times. I can’t just desert my duty. If you’re really scared, I can call extra security to hide out of sight and-”

 

“I have a date.”

 

He blinked with surprise. “Oh,” he said. “A date. Um, alright, I understand. I’ll just… linger a few blocks away and scout for vampires.”

 

Rey coughed, thankful that he understood and awkwardly left the apartment. They walked to university in dead silence, and Rey was  _ so  _ thankful that Poe didn’t ask her who she was going on a date with. She promised herself that she would ask later, when he would be more approachable.

 

\-------------------------

 

The rest of Wednesday passed like a blur. Even during Poe’s class, she found her mind wandering, distracted by the tiniest of things. One moment, she would be learning all about Coulomb's law; and in the next, she would be gazing out of the window at a fluttering butterfly. 

 

Her regular business professor was back. He was bald, short, and practically bored the shit out of Rey. Maybe the class would have been just a little bit more interesting if he talked with enthusiasm, but his tone made him seem almost as unhappy as the students sitting in his classroom.

 

And when Rey was finally dismissed from his class; in her hand was a giant bundle of newly jotted down notes. He had already given them a quiz date; and it was approaching quickly. 

 

On the walk back home, Poe was much more talkative than in the morning. 

 

“And then,” he said, waving his hands in the air, “After I told her that I couldn’t extend her project date, she had the nerve to try and flirt with me!”

 

Rey laughed. “Really? Why are you surprised, Poe? This is Arianna we’re talking about! I’m surprised she didn’t strip naked immediately!”

 

Poe laughed with her. “Yeah, I know, and when I told her that no, I wasn’t going to have sex, she had the nerve to try and bribe me!”

 

Rey was not at all surprised. “What, how much did she offer?”

 

Poe’s voice was hushed with awe. “She literally tried to give me a  _ million  _ dollars, Rey! A million dollars!” He stared longingly at an ad for Porsche that was being blared on a nearby billboard. “Oh,” he said, “What I could buy with a million dollars.”

 

Rey took his hand in hers, and shot him a soft smile. “Hey,” she said, “Well, you don’t need money for the best things in life. Like, happiness. Joy.”

 

He squeezed her hand reassuringly and smiled back. 

 

He was just about to close the door to her apartment after sending her back, when Rey stopped him from slamming it closed and quickly ran out into the hallway to ask the question that had been on her mind. 

 

“Do you know a Kylo Ren?”

 

Poe paused, and his eyes reminded Rey of a deer caught in headlights. If it was possible, he looked more scared of telling the truth than how scared Rey was of asking. 

 

“Rey,” he said slowly, “This doesn’t concern you. You don’t need to know who he is.”

 

Rey’s eyes narrowed. “I heard that he’s a CEO for the First Order,” she said, “But I know that there’s more than just that. Do you know something about him, Poe? Please, tell me: I  _ have  _ to know.”

 

Poe shook his head morosely. “There’s nothing else you need to know about him,” he said. “You’re right… he’s just a CEO for the First Order.” His posture shifted, and his fear soon turned into suspicion. “Why do you ask?”

 

This was it. The moment she had been waiting for. She crossed her arms across her chest in an attempt to seem braver than she really was. “I have a date with him,” she said, “And if there’s anything you want to tell me about him, then you should tell me now.”

 

Rey had Poe pinned against the wall; and he knew it. Her safety was his number one priority, and there was no way he would try to keep any dangerous secret about Kylo from her. In the morning, he had agreed to stay far, far away from her during her date; and Rey could hold him accountable to his promise. 

 

“So,” she said slowly, “I guess you have nothing to tell me. I  _ won’t  _ be seeing you tomorrow, because I have a date.” She turned around slowly for dramatic effect, and slowly walked back into her apartment. With crossed fingers, she wondered if she was taking this act too far. 

 

Thankfully, Poe took the bait. He seized Rey’s wrist just as she was about to close the door, and squeezed himself into her apartment. “Wait,” he said, and sighed slowly. Rey, staring pointedly at him, shrugged her wrist from his grasp and awaited his answer. 

 

“I.. I can’t tell you anything about him; other than he’s dangerous. Very dangerous. I just want you to be safe; so take this.” He slid his hand into his satchel, and pulled out a lethal looking dagger. 

 

“I know you lost the one I gave you before because of all the vampires.” He turned the sheath of the dagger over, and Rey admired how the light reflected off of the intricate decoration. “Here. This is an ancient weapon; wield it carefully. If anything feels wrong, if you think there’s a vampire nearby, keep this at your side.”

 

Rey accepted the dagger wordlessly as he slid it carefully into her hands. It was heavy; much heavier than she expected. 

 

She hadn’t been expecting Poe’s gentleness either. He was calm and controlled, and seemed to have no more outright objections to her date. Either he was being truthful, and Kylo Ren really was just normal, or he was hiding something else from her. He had called Kylo “dangerous”. 

 

Poe moved to leave, and slithered out of her room like a ghost; no farewells except regret lingering far behind him. His footsteps were quiet, subdued, and each one clicked with the sound of purpose and intent.

 

No goodbye. He wasn’t angry; so what was happening? Did he just forget to say goodbye? No; he wasn’t that simple. All her time with the vampire hunter had taught Rey at least that.

 

Mmm. A new dagger. Rey held it up to the dim sunlight that was wafting through her window, and she marveled at the way the dagger seemed to glint with malice and power. Even the sheath was beautiful; and she hadn’t even seen the actual dagger yet. 

 

She slid it out, loving the way it felt so smooth and buttery when the blade glided out of the sheath. The dagger itself was an odd color; and at its most simplest it seemed to be steel gray. But when she looked closer, when she twirled it in her hands, it seemed to glow with the faintest hue of purple. 

 

Maybe she should just bring it on the date. Life was unpredictable, and monsters even more so. She laid it carefully onto the coffee table in front of her couch; treating it like a fragile object that might break or crack spontaneously at any second. 

 

\-------------------------

 

She stood in front of the floor-length mirror; picking and tugging at the edge of her dress and wondering if it was too long. Or too short. Maybe the strap was too flimsy. Was she showing too much cleavage? Was she showing too  _ little  _ cleavage?

 

What type of restaurant was Kylo taking her to, anyway? She had tried to google it, like any sensible person, but nothing except a few ratings came up. There wasn’t even an online menu or website. 

 

The reviews themselves felt overexaggerated. People had called it the “Best Italian Cuisine” they had eaten in years, and others sweared that it was heaven on earth. 

 

She spared a glance at the rustic clock that hung over her foyer. 5:50. Kylo said he would be here in 10 minutes. Rey grabbed the bag that she had used for over 5 years, and quickly ran out the front door. 

 

Was Kylo really going to pick her up? Rey didn’t doubt that he knew where she lived; he had already climbed through her window. What she did doubt, however, was if he was going to be able to navigate New York traffic and manage to secure some parking. 

 

Eh. Screw it. She might as well walk to the restaurant. Opening the google maps on her phone, she opened the building door to the outside sidewalk. 

 

She would’ve walked right past the dark convertible that was parked by the sidewalk had the she not been familiar with the voice of its owner. 

 

“You’re early,” he said. Rey turned around, chewing her cheek nervously. So he  _ did  _ manage to come here and pick her up. 

 

“You’re early too,” she said, arching an eyebrow and showing him the screen of her phone. It was officially 5:52. “You said 6:00,” she said. “I thought you were a man of your word.”

 

He was wearing sunglasses, dark shades that obscured those beautiful brown eyes from her vision. An effortless smile grazed his face. “Well, pardon me for trying to spend a few extra minutes with an exceptionally beautiful lady.”

 

Rey tried to hide her blush by rolling her eyes; but she could practically feel her face turning red. What was wrong with her? She was usually immune to cheesy one-liners. 

 

He opened the door of the car for her, and Rey slid into his black Ferrari. It was sleek, shiny, and completely out of her or any other ordinary New Yorker’s price range. She let her eyes wander over the black and artisan leather seats, and felt the car start to smoothly accelerate while the engine purred like a tame kitty. 

 

Even the steering wheel was fancy. The hands gripping it were also expertly crafted; long and agile. And on Kylo’s right hand, right on his ring finger, the finger of loyalty and fidelity, there sat a ring. And on that ring was a gem; a blood-red gem that was the twin of a pearl that currently adorned Rey’s neck. 

 

He sensed her eyes on his finger, and spoke. 

 

“It’s fitting, isn’t it?” With one hand on the steering wheel, the other drifted to the headrest of Rey’s seat, and her heart began to pound at his closeness. “It has a twin,” he continued, his hand now grazing her hair, “And that twin sits on your neck.”

 

His fingers were brushing against her skin now; and Rey felt trembles go through her core at the sensation of his cold skin against her flushed neck. They sat in silence for the rest of the ride to the restaurant; and Kylo’s hand stayed on her neck like a possessive clamp. 

 

\-------------------------

 

He tossed the keys to a waiting valet, and led Rey into the restaurant with his hand now possessively around her waist. 

 

\-------------------------

 

The waiter bowed to him with respect and led him to a reserved room on the second floor. 

 

\-------------------------

 

He spoke in fluent Italian to the waiter, and soon after a glass of blood red wine was poured for both of them into crystal wine glasses.

 

\-------------------------

 

She was staring out the window, gazing at the flickering lights of the New York skyline. Far below the restaurant, tiny little humans wound their way through streets crowded by cars that seemed the size of toys. 

 

When her eyes flickered back to his, her heart stopped for a moment. 

 

He had been staring at her intently; with his chin supported by his interwoven fingers while his elbows rested on the pristine white tablecloth. He didn’t blink, didn’t even seem to  _ breathe _ while he looked at her. 

 

“Who are you?” Rey breathed, entranced by the way her eyes were unable to tear away from his. “Why do I feel like I know you?”

 

“You do.” His mouth was the only thing that moved when he responded. “It doesn’t matter. You’ll get to know me better soon enough.”

 

A cryptic answer; one that Rey would solve later. For now, she had to get as many truths out of Kylo as possible. “Do you know me?”

 

“Of course I do. I might be the only person on this earth to know you thoroughly and completely.”

 

Rey’s eyes narrowed with challenge. “Oh do you, really? I call your bluff.”

  
He smirked; the first sign of emotion to reach his face. “Fine. If you don’t believe me, I’ll just have to prove it to you. I propose a game,” he sat back in his seat and leaned all the way back. “If you stump me, I’ll do something you want me to do. If I win, you have to do something that I ask you to do.”

 

Rey felt confident in her abilities and she leaned back into her seat. “Sounds good. 10 questions?” He nodded. “Alright. I’ll start now. What’s my favorite color?”

 

He answered without any hesitation. “Green.”

 

Rey tried to hide her unease at how confident he was. “That was too easy,” she said, squirming in her seat and scowling. “It’ll just get harder from here. What’s my favorite type of tea?”

 

“Chrysanthemum.”

 

Damn it. “Favorite book?”

 

“The Mysterious Benedict Society. You enjoy it because you relate to the character Reynard “Reynie” Muldoon and you feel a connection with the strong, intelligent children that star in it.”

 

Not only did he get it right; he managed to explain to her  _ why  _ exactly she loved the book. It was unsettling; how meticulous he was with details.“Favorite show?”

 

Not a second after she asked, he responded. “Parks and Recreation. You love Leslie Knope.”

 

“How do I eat chocolate bars?”

 

“You break the pieces off one by one, and you suck. You never bite until you have to.”

 

“My favorite breed of dog?” Rey inwardly smiled. She had never told any of her friends this particular secret. 

 

“Maltese.”

 

What? How did he know? Rey’s mouth was agape but she quickly regained her composure and continued with the challenge. “Favorite impressionist artist?”

 

“Paul Cezanne.” 

 

He had already gotten 7 out of 10 right. Rey knew that she had to step up her game. “Who was my worst enemy in middle school?”

 

“Matilda Evans.”

 

“Favorite high school teacher?”

 

“Mrs. Unibager.”

 

She allowed herself to smirk; proud of her next question. “Who was my 3rd high school crush?”

 

His face darkened, and his fists clenched with anger until they were as white as bone. “Avery Malus,” he spit out, “You liked him in the middle of eleventh grade.”

 

It was her turn to scowl. How did he know that? The only person she had ever mentioned her crush on Avery to was her diary, and the very closest of her friends. “That’s ten,” she said. “Congratulations on being an expert on my life and seeming like a huge stalker.”

 

“Do you remember what was to happen if I won?”

 

Rey rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. What do you want from me?”

 

He extended his pale hand onto the table, and leaned so far across it that his face was mere inches from hers. 

 

“Let me touch you.”   
  
Her first reaction was to quail away from him with disgust, but she soon realized that he didn’t mean it in a sexual tone. It was innocent, the way he asked her, and it sounded like the plea of a child. 

 

He heard the way that her chair rubbed against the ground when it jerked back in surprise, and he raised his hands in the air, as if he was showing her that he was unharmed and meant no violence. 

 

“Please,” he said, almost begging. “Please. Let me touch you.”

 

She nodded, hating the way that he looked so hopeless and helpless. At her nod, he stood in one fluid motion, and walked around the table to where she sat. When he next spoke, right next to her ear so that Rey could feel the harsh coldness of his breath, his hands were wrapped around her shoulders. 

 

“Don’t move,” he whispered, “And listen to what I have to say.”

 

His hands traced the outline of her neck, and Rey shivered at the sensation. It was a light grasp; but it felt almost as tight as a chokehold. He stroked her neck lovingly and gently, as if he was petting a dove, and Rey sat petrified in her seat. His finger pressed against the pulse point in the crook of her neck; not harsh enough to hurt. 

 

“I can feel your blood,” he said, “I can feel it running, pumping, pulsing through your veins and down your fragile neck.” He sounded in awe, and Rey imagined that he sounded like a pilgrim viewing his god for the first time. 

 

“Do you know what you are, Rey?”

 

When she opened her jaw to speak, she could still feel his hands trembling all the way down neck. “I’m a human,” she said. “A pitiful mortal.”

 

She felt his breath next on her neck, and her skin prickled. “Does this ‘pitiful mortal’ know anything about vampires? Does she know that right now, at this instant,” he leaned in even closer until she could feel his lips brush against her lips, “That there is vampire right behind her?”

 

“I  _ knew  _ it,” Rey whispered, a feeling of elation trickling through her mind. “I knew it! You’re not human!”

 

His breath hitched against her neck. “You’re not afraid of me? You’re not at all surprised at the fact that I’m a vampire? I could kill you; right here, right now, and you would be helpless to stop it.”

 

“Go ahead,” Rey said softly, leaning back in her chair so that his hair tickled her lips. “Kill me. I dare you to.” She laughed, almost maniacally. “That’s why you were trying to get so close to me all these times, isn’t it? You just want to eat me up like some sort of dessert.”

 

“I can’t kill you,” he said, whimpering. “I could never.”

 

She snorted. “Do you still want to eat me?”

 

“Yes,” he said, his tone so dead and serious that it was colder than ice. “I still want to eat you. I still want to sink my teeth into your beautiful neck and take what it  _ mine _ . I want you, Rey, I want  _ every  _ bit of you until you know no other name except mine.”

 

She inhaled the scent of his hair; and she loved the way it caressed her cheek and rubbed against her soft skin like a silk scarf. Kylo’s lips moved on her neck, and something hard pressed against her neck. His teeth. He breathed in deeply, and groaned when he inhaled her scent. 

 

The door slammed open, and Rey snapped her head to watch as a waiter carried multiple plates and platters into the room, seemingly unaffected by the odd situation. He merely bowed, (who bowed in the 21rst century?), averted his eyes from the pair, and left the room, closing the door and locking it behind him. 

 

Kylo stood up abruptly the moment the waiter left the room, and stalked back to his chair. Rey missed the warmth of his head on her shoulder. It was like a steady anchor, and she felt  _ naked  _ without it. 

 

“Eat,” he said, pushing a plate of what seemed to be gnocchi towards her. “You’ll need your strength.”

 

She cocked her eyebrow challengingly, but still took the plate anyway. “And, why would I need my strength?” She took a fork, and stabbed it into the first shell of pasta. It was cheesy, warm, and smelled like heaven. 

 

“Don’t you want to know who you are? Who you  _ really  _ are?”

 

She stuffed the gnocchi into her mouth, and nearly moaned at how good it was. “What do you mean? I’m just a human. I don’t think I’m a vampire. I’ve never really had the urge to chug tomato juice,” she said, trying to banish the nauseating nervousness that had settled in the pit of stomach with humor. 

 

“I forgot,” he said, “That you don’t know how wonderfully  _ delicious  _ and tantalizing you smell.” He clenched his fists and banged them against the table in frustration. “You’re different, Rey. You’re very different from the normal human.”

 

Rey stopped eating for a second, and paused with confusion. “What do you mean, I’m different?”

 

“I assume your friend, the hunter, hasn’t told you anything, has he?”

 

Rey shook her head and for the first time ever, felt a tiny twinge of resentment towards her good friend Poe. “What was he supposed to tell me?”

 

“Every single vampire wants to kill you.”

 

She stopped eating, just for a second, but soon resumed. “I know that,” she said. “I practically have to dodge death every day. That’s nothing new.” She added more, maybe a bit more defensively. “Poe already told me that; thank you very much.”

 

He rose again in a fluid movement, and stalked over to the window with his hands clasped behind his back in a formal position. Rey noticed, not for the first time, how  _ tall  _ he really was. His head brushed the top of the window, and his shoulders seemed to fill up the whole view. 

 

“Your blood is different. It calls to us,” he said, and Rey noted his use of the term ‘us’. “And it tempts us. With every pump of your heart, your blood is calling to all the vampires in this city like a beacon.”

 

“How is it different?” As she asked, a bit of cheese accidentally dribbled down her chin. She moved to grab the napkin, but when her hand brushed the table, it wasn’t there. 

 

It was already on her chin, wiping away the cheese. She didn’t have to look up to know it was Kylo. His super-speed, no doubt a characteristic of his vampire abilities, no longer surprised her. 

 

“It’s sweet,” he said, his hand still gently dabbing at her lower lip and chin. “It’s delicious. It’s said to make us more powerful than we can ever imagine. As powerful as gods. It can kill, and it can heal. It can be used for good and evil.”

 

“How can you know that?” Rey was positive that she had never been bitten by a vampire. At least, she couldn’t remember giving her blood to some bloodsuckers. “How can know the effects of my blood if you haven’t even tried it?”

 

“You’re not the first cupitaviri, you’re merely descended from the first one. The Ancestor.”

 

He had called her a cupitaviri. “Am I a cupitaveer-, however you pronounce it?”

 

“Yes,” he said, laying down the napkin and now stroking her cheek with his cold hand. “You are a cupitaviri. From the moment you were born, your destiny has been spelled out in the stars. You hold unimaginable power, and it is yours to wield.”

 

“Unimaginable power? Kylo, I don’t think I even have power over my own life.” 

 

“You don’t have the power yet, my love.” His words, and the way he talked like a sweet and gentle lover, sent tremors of anticipation down her spine. “I could teach you,” he said, “I can show you just how powerful you can be.”

 

“What..power do you speak of? I don’t understand!” She felt tears starting to prickle her eyes. She rarely cried, and never in front of people, but her frustration was starting to tear her from the inside out. It felt like swallowing hot coals and feeling the fire burn in her lungs. 

 

The wine glass in front of her shattered. Broken glass, like snowflakes, dotted the table while red wine seeped through the pure white tablecloth like shed blood. A few of the glass shards had lodged themselves in the palm of her hand, and soon droplets of blood started to bubble forth. 

 

Kylo groaned, and as fast as a cheetah, grabbed Rey’s hand and brought it up to his mouth. He licked her hand once, and his wet tongue felt like it was fire against her skin. 

 

He growled like an animal. In the next second, Rey found herself pinned against the wall; trapped by Kylo’s broad chest and surrounded by his thick arms. He still had a hand against her wrist, and kept it lodged against the hard wall. 

 

“Kylo,” she said, “What are you doing?”

 

Her silent plea for help fell on deaf ears. Gazing at her intently, he lowered his own head until his hair tickled her cheek once again. She felt his hot breath burn the skin on her neck.

 

“Kylo! Stop,  _ please _ .”

 

Once again, he didn’t hear her. If he did, he chose to ignore it. Rey felt his lips shift against the nape of her neck, and heard the sharp clunking sound that was soon followed by the feeling of two needles brushing against her skin. 

 

“Kylo,” she said, her voice breaking as a sob escaped her mouth. “Kylo. Stop!”

 

He paid her no attention, but merely pressed against her chest harder to quell her struggles. He let go of her wrist, and instead gripped her shoulders tightly. Desperate, and afraid, Rey tried her hardest to push against his chest. He was unmovable like a stone. 

 

His teeth pierced her skin, and Rey cried out from the pain as what felt like . “Kylo!” She rasped, her head feeling dizzy and her vision slowly sinking to a black fog. Her body was starting to sag, but his strong arms kept her pinned up against the wall like a doll. “Kylo! You’re hurting me!”

 

He ripped his teeth from her neck, so suddenly that the pain hit her like a rocket. Feeling strangely numb, and seeing surreal hallucinations from her eyes, Rey lost all control of her legs. She would have fallen flat on the floor had Kylo not been able to support her. 

  
  


“Why… you...hurt...me,” her tongue slurred, and she lolled her head to the side when she was too tired to lift it up. “I….want..see….Poe,” she said, weakly punching Kylo in the shoulder. “I...want..go… home.”

 

“I’m sorry, Rey,” Kylo whispered, “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I lost control; I …. I couldn’t help it.” For the first time since she had met him, Kylo seemed utterly lost and confused, his cool exterior of calm now melting away to show the inferno of recklessness inside while he hung onto Rey as if she was the raft and he was a drowning man lost at sea. 

 

“I’m so sorry, so,  _ so,  _ sorry, sweetheart,” he said, scooping her up into his arms like she was some sort of princess. Unable to fight against his strength, Rey let her limbs and head drop like dead weight. “You can yell at me later. For now, let’s get you back to safety.”

 

Rey dozed off, trying to nod and let him know that yes, she wanted to go home. As sleep took her, she couldn’t help but think that his arms felt so familiar and so much like home. 

 

\-------------------------

 

The scent of  _ her  _ still wafted around the room like lingering poison. 

 

He could sense the restlessness of all the vampires outside. They knew who their master had taken to dinner; and they no doubt had smelled the spilled blood. Even Kylo himself was finding it hard to resist Rey’s tantalizing smell, and he knew that the younger, more wild vampires would be dangerous to control. 

 

_ Marce,  _ he said,  _ pull up the car to the front of the restaurant _ .  _ It is time for me to return. _

 

_ Yes, sir, _ came the brief reply that was the perfect combination of respect and fear that Kylo demanded from all those who were under his command. 

 

He walked out through the front of the restaurant, ignoring the inquisitive glances that came from several of the patrons. As he left, the manager stood out from his office and gave Kylo a low bow. “Thank you for coming, sir,” he said. “Shall I do the normal clean-up for the dining room?”

 

“No,” said Kylo, “There is not as big a mess today. Merely some wine on the tablecloth and broken glass, that is all.” He walked past the man without another word, tuning out his gracious thanks and murmured goodbyes. 

 

Marce opened the door for him, and asked him nothing about the girl in his arm. Kylo gracefully stepped into the limo, and settled into the back seat. Positioning Rey so that her head was cradled in his waist, he brushed a few sweaty strands of hair from her flushed face. He winced when he saw the twin holes on her neck. 

 

“Drive,” he said, “Back to the Fifth Saks Avenue apartment for tonight.”

 

Marce started to drive, and Kylo stared out the window while gently caressing Rey’s face. He made a mistake tonight; one that he should not have made. He kept telling himself, that he would have  _ control, organization, and be civilized,  _ but he had still failed. 

 

He winced. What was he supposed to tell the Hunters? They would no doubt be enraged at Rey’s disappearance. But as heroic and valiant they believed themselves to be, Kylo knew it was all an elaborate facade. They wanted Rey’s power. They wanted to keep her from him. 

  
He leaned down to kiss her once on her forehead, as if he was marking her. And in a way, he was. He would be her first and last. He would be her every dream and nightmare. He would be the name that she whispered long into the night. She would be his queen, the second half of his soul. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SO SORRY ABOUT THE LATE UPDATE
> 
> Finals are starting to breathe down my neck and my notes are practically screaming at my lazy ass to study them. 
> 
> Enjoy, and I promise I'll try to get another chapter up soon.

Rey’s dream was a scramble of surreal, bizarre, and uncanny images. And when she awoke from her sleep, amid a tangle of sweaty sheets and ruffled pillows, her breaths were laborious and arduous. 

 

But the soft, silk sheets that she was curling in her fingers were not the rougher cotton sheets of her own bed. Purple, red, and blue colors that were not familiar bombarded her eyes. Decorative wooden poles surrounded the bed she was in, and the sheen canopy was gently draped over the poles. 

 

Rey imagined that this was what princesses woke up to each day. This was, for sure, not what kidnapped college girls would see before their eyes. 

 

She hesitatingly disentangled herself from the sheets and shivered at the absence of the warm blankets. Rubbing her hands up and down on her arms to try and dispel the newly raised goose bumps, she took a good look at her prison/palace, or whatever it was. 

 

There was a decorated armoire on one end of the room, and by the looks of it, it was expensive mahogany. A desk in a corner, with a closed window above it, seemed also to be luxurious and antique. She spotted a mirror, and quickly walked to it, unsure of what she would see. 

 

She still looked the same. Her eyes were still brown. Her freckles were all in the same place. Her hair now hung loose about her shoulders, and she scrunched her eyes; frustrated that she wasn’t able to remember taking out her buns. 

 

Her neck hurt. Two open holes, clotted with blood, dotted her pale skin at the nape of her neck. From a distance, it would look like a tattoo, or a brand. 

 

What was she  _ wearing _ ? At first glance, it looked like the flowing togas that the ancient greeks used to don their queens with. But if she looked closer, she could spot that it was clearly a nightgown. Why else would she be missing a bra?

 

Wait. Her bra was missing?

 

Her hands instinctively moved across her chest to cover her feminine, private area. She doubted there was anyone else in the room, but for some reason, she felt so naked. Even with a luxurious nightgown draped gracefully across her shoulders, she felt as naked as the day she was born. 

 

The door to the room clicked open, and Rey spun around, gripping the mirror table for support and searching for her right hand for any type of weapon while her left arm was draped over her chest. 

 

A little girl stepped into the room. By the looks of her uniform, she was a maid. Bowing low to Rey, she walked over to the bed and placed what looked like clean clothes onto the bed. “I will inform Lord Ren that you are awake,” she said, “Please change into the new clothes so you may be presentable when he arrives.”

 

Lord Ren? There was no way that Kylo held such a high title. Nevertheless, when the girl left the room and locked the door behind her, Rey slowly walked over to the bed to look at the new clothes. They looked innocent enough, and anything would be better than the transparent nightgown she currently wore. And if Kylo, or Lord Ren really  _ were  _ to come see her, she didn’t want to grace him with a view of his breasts. 

 

Changing with her body placed hidden behind the wardrobe, she sighed with relief when she saw that there was a bra. She slipped it on, trying her hardest to hide her nakedness in case of cameras, and pulled on the t-shirt. It was comfortable enough, and it fit her perfectly. Next to go on were the pants, which were practical and comfy. 

 

She felt alright. At least her breasts weren’t on display. 

 

Now that she was no longer naked, and in good condition to run through the streets of New York and find her way back to her apartment, she started scanning the room for possible escape routes. 

 

Maybe the door would be unopened? Even as she walked to the doorknob, she knew in her heart how hopeless it was. If the girl was even just an incompetent servant, there was no way she would forget to the lock the door of the room of a prisoner. And sure enough, all the doorknob did was jiggle when she turned it. It looked from the outside, and it had her trapped inside the door. Not bothering to groan with frustration because she knew in her heart that the door would be locked, she moved on to the window. 

 

From the looks of it, she was in an apartment. A high apartment, one that a good view of the city. She leaned her head against the glass pane, calming her breath as she watched the early morning traffic and the ever growing stream of pedestrians. 

 

Her hands fumbled around the window, tracing over the edges while her eyes scanned the rough wooden border. Nowhere did she see nor feel any locks, and she knew that it would be hopeless for her to try to escape from the window anyway. Where would she go? Straight down for what looked like 60 floors? She preferred to live, thank you very much.

 

Any air vents? She saw what seemed to be a trap door in the upper corner, and she quickly and efficiently dragged a table over. One foot over the other, she climbed onto it with shaky legs and stood on her tiptoes to reach the trapdoor. 

 

So close! She cursed the mother and father that she never knew for giving her such horrible genetics. Had she been even just a half-inch taller, she would by now be well on the way to escape. 

 

Maybe if she stood on top of one of the pillows….

 

She got ready to step down, when she heard the door open again. Screaming, with anticipation and apprehension, she fell onto the soft bed and rolled onto the floor quite clumsily and straight onto the fragile bone of her kneecap. 

 

“Rey?”

 

Ugh. It was her captor. Groaning and clutching a knee that would undoubtedly bruise, she shakily stood and scowled at the door. Sure enough, there he stood, dressed in imposing black robes and standing tall and straight with impeccable posture. 

 

“Where am I?”

 

He raised an eyebrow. “You’re my guest,” he said. “I trust you found your accommodations pleasant?”

 

“Thank you for bringing me to this… home,” Rey said, unsure of where she really was. “I appreciate your efforts, but I’m afraid that I must go home now. Can you show me the exit?”

 

He cocked his head. “Leave? Why would you want to leave?” He stalked closer, and Rey began to sweat; remembering how he had pinned her to the wall and sunk her teeth deep into her neck. 

 

There was nowhere for her to hide. Soon Kylo had made his way up to her, and she rubbed her hands on her pants to get rid of the sweat that had accumulated. She briefly remembered the dagger than Poe had given her, and now her fingers itched to hold it in her palm. 

 

He moved so close that she could count each freckle on his face. Just a few inches separated the tips of their toes. He reached for her and she flinched away. He flinched too, and his arms fell uselessly to his side. 

 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his eyes staring fixedly at a spot on the floor. “I lost control last night. I promise you, that will never happen again.”

 

She didn’t respond, and he took that as the cue to continue. “I promised myself, before I picked you up from your apartment, that I wouldn’t attack you like the monster I am. I promise you, Rey, from this moment forward, I will never willingly harm you.” He reached for her hands and before she could shy away from him once more, he had already trapped her own hands in his long fingers. 

 

“Will you forgive me?” His eyes were as round as saucers, and how could Rey say no?

 

“I will,” she said, “If you give me back my bag.”

 

“That can be arranged,” he said. “For now, follow me. I think its about time you deserved a tour of my humble home.”

 

Rey’s mouth dropped open as Kylo let go of her hand and walked toward the exit. “This is your home?” She asked, “I’m, uh, sorry if I was an annoyance to you and caused some messiness in your room.”

 

“This isn’t my room,” he said, leaving the room while his voice slowly grew fainter. She rushed up, trying to catch up to him so he could hear him better. “That room was prepared just for you,” he said, “So you have no need to apologize.”

 

“Wait,” Rey said, slowly, “If that’s my room, and you prepared it before I fainted, then….” the pieces of the puzzle all flew together in her mind. When she hit that epiphany, she glared at Kylo’s retreating back and crossed her arms. “Did you plan this all out? Kylo?” He paid no attention to her, and she was forced to run to match his long strides. “Kylo!  _ Kylo _ !”

 

He only shot her one look before continuing to walk. “Would you get angry at me if I told you the truth?”

 

“No,” Rey said, then, “Yes. I, I don’t know, Kylo, just tell me.”

 

“Of course I made the room for you ahead of advance,” he said. “Why do you think all the clothes fit perfectly? And,” he said, humor starting to creep into his voice, “Why do you think I made sure all the doors and windows were locked?”

 

She scoffed. “You’re unbelievable.”

 

“I know.”

 

She raised his eyebrows, but his face betrayed no humor or laughter. It was like he was being serious. 

 

“This is your home?” She asked half because of guilt and also because she was genuinely curious. “It’s nice,” she said, wincing at how lame it sounded. “I mean,” she said, “I like the color scheme.” She really did. In every corner of the apartment there were splotches of vibrant color mixed with dim hues. 

 

“Thank you,” he said. “I planned it myself.”

 

She almost laughed with awe. “I didn’t know that vampires were architects,” she said, quickly stopping to admire a painted portrait while Kylo stopped with her. “Who’s the woman in this painting? She’s pretty.”

 

Pretty wasn’t enough to deal the woman justice. She managed to look regal and commanding, but still maintained an air of affability and comfort. Rey’s heart ached, as she looked at a woman that would have been a perfect mother. 

 

“That’s Padme Amidala,” Kylo said softly, looking at the painting with her. Whereas Rey had to gaze upwards, Kylo’s height allowed him to comfortably look at the picture at eye level. “She was a regal queen, a wonderful commander, and a woman that was too good for this corrupted world. Now, come.” 

 

He started walking again, but Rey let her eyes linger for just a moment longer on the painting. 

 

“Where are we heading?” They seemed to be passing a study room now, and all Rey got a glimpse of while they passed the ajar door was quick image of an impressively large bookshelf, another mahogany desk, and a window larger than the wall. 

 

“Didn’t you say that you wanted your bag back? And, as I said before, this is a tour.” He walked down the stairs, which were large enough to let three people walk side by side comfortably. 

 

“Viriden,” he said into the open air, “Get some water for Lady Rey.” 

 

She heard a soft “Yes, Lord Ren,” and craned her neck behind her to see a young woman in yet another maid outfit quickly scamper away down the hallway. “Are those your servants?” She asked. 

 

“Yes,” he said, “They are all under my command. Yours too,” he said, turning his head to look at her. “If you want anything, all you have to do is ask. Which reminds me; do you require sustenance?”

 

“What?”

 

“Food,” Kylo said, sounding a bit exasperated. “Toast, bagels, or whatever you humans eat.”

 

“No, I’m good,” she said, not an ounce of deception behind it. She was still from her last night’s dinner, although her mouth was just a little bit parched. Right on cue, she felt a pair of hands push a glass of water into her hands, but she found herself saying “thank you” to the thin air. 

 

“No need to thank them,” Kylo said, with an air of superiority. “They are beneath you.”

 

Rey frowned and took a sip of water, a bit agitated at his arrogance. She said nothing and let him lead the way once again. 

 

He disappeared briefly into a room, and when he returned, Rey’s bag was in his hand. “Here,” he said, “The price for my forgiveness.” He returned the bag to her with a stern expression on his face. 

 

“You know I was kidding, right? It’s not like I was just going to ignore you. Let’s be a serious; a bag can’t grant you forgiveness.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry,” she said, “I do forgive you. You’re a vampire. I have blood. Of course something’s going to happen.”

 

“You forgive me?” His face lit up like the sun. 

 

“Of course I do. It was my fault for breaking the wineglass anyway and cutting my hand,” Rey said. “Oh my god! I forgot to tell the manager sorry!” 

 

“No need to worry. I already took care of that.”

 

“You did?” He nodded. “Oh,” Rey said, surprised that he would do such a thing for her. “Thank you.”

 

“You forgive me?” He said. “You can really forgive a monster like me?”

 

He was looking at her with something akin to worship, that Rey had to stare at his nose; not as his eyes. “Yeah,” she said. “I forgive you. Just don’t do it again, please.”

 

“Of course I won’t,” he said, reaching for her again as Rey fought the urge to flinch. He pulled her into a tight tug, and her fingers curled up against his broad chest. “I promised you, didn’t I? I will never willingly hurt you.”

 

Something buzzed in her bag. Her phone. She pushed Kylo far, far away from her, and grabbed her phone to see the caller ID listed as a certain “Poe Dameron”. She took no hesitation in answering. 

 

“Listen to me, you sick fuck,” said Poe on the other side in an icy tone that could freeze volcanoes, “I don’t know where you are, but I promise you, if you do not return Rey to me safely I will tear you  _ limb  _ from  _ limb _ .”

 

“Jesus, Poe,” she muttered, taken aback by his ferocity. “It’s me.”

 

“Rey? Rey! You’re alive! Are you safe? Are you unharmed? Did that monster hurt you? Is this him pretending to be you? Quick; where was the first place where we almost kissed?”

 

Behind her, Kylo Ren stiffened and Rey wanted to give Poe a good lashing for using such a personal question. “Um,” she stuttered, trying to speak as softly as possible. “The carousel in the park?”

 

“Oh thank the maker,” Poe breathed in a raspy gasp. “Are you safe?”

 

“Yeah,” she said, she herself unsure of the answer. 

 

“Well, where are you? We gotta get you back to safety.”

 

“I’m not sure,” she said, “I think I’m in Kylo Ren’s house. Still in New York.”

 

At once the phone erupted with more screams and snarls, and it was so loud that she had to jerk her ear away from the phone. She held it at arm’s lengths, and waited for Poe to finally calm down. 

 

“Here,” Kylo said, extending his hand, “Let me take care of this.” Rey slapped her phone into his hand. 

 

Strong, stern, and collected, he answered the phone without even flinching at Poe’s threats. “Hunter,” he said, “It’s me. There’s no need to worry; Rey is safe and unharmed.” There was a pause. “Yes, she’s still human.” Another longer pause. “No, I have not told her yet but I am about to.” He was silent for another long minute, and Rey bit her nails, unsure of what was going on. “Yes. I will bring her back to her apartment. Goodbye for now.” He hung up, and slipped the phone back into her hand. 

 

“What did he say?”

 

“I told him the truth. You are unharmed, correct?” Rey nodded, and Kylo looked satisfied. 

 

“Before you leave,” he said, “I have something to ask you. This is completely your decision, I’m not forcing you to say yes.” He paused for a second, as if he was collecting himself. “Your blood can help us further our research and save millions of lives. We have a state-of-the-art lab here, and I promise that no harm will come to you if you decide to help us in our research.”

 

Rey had started listening after Kylo said that she could save millions of lives. “What exactly would you need? You know from class that I’m not the most intelligible person.” But deep in her mind, Rey knew exactly what they needed. 

 

“We’ll just need a little bit of your blood,” he said, “Not a lot; never more than half a pint.”

 

“What do you mean I can save lives? I don’t really mind donating, I’m just scared that it’ll get into the wrong hands. You said it yourself; it makes vampires as powerful as gods.” She sighed. “Can you promise me that I won’t be responsible for any power-hungry bloodsuckers? I don’t want to do more harm than good.” 

 

“Don’t worry,” he said, “We won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.” Before Rey could tell him that it wasn’t an answer, he started to walk away once more. “Now, come. I believe that you want to go back to your own house?”

 

\-----------------------------

 

This time, he drove a convertible. It was a blood-red, shiny Maserati, different from the one that he had picked Rey up with for the date last night. It felt too pretentious and out-of-place on the traffic ridden streets of New York, and made Rey fidget with discomfort. It was a relief when the familiar sight of her homely and humble apartment building appeared on the horizon, overshadowed by the luxurious condos that seemed to reach up into the heavens. 

 

Home. She felt a tiny twinge of jealously, remembering how beautiful and decorative Kylo’s apartment had been. 

 

He lived in a different world than hers. Too different. She got out of the car, saying the customary thank-yous and have a good days, and made her way to her apartment building. 

 

Strong arms pressed around her waist, and her first thoughts were  _ kidnap, rape,  _ and  _ hostage _ . But no. The skin-and-flesh barrier than her head was leaning against was far too familiar already. 

 

“Please, Rey,” Kylo murmured, “Be safe.”

 

“Okay,” she murmured back, closing her eyes and relishing the feeling of being trapped in his arms. He spun her around so that she faced him, and she had to tilt her head up to be able to look him in the face. 

 

_ He’s going to kiss me, _ she thought, as he brought his head slowly down to meet hers.  _ And I’m going to kiss him back. _

 

But their lips never did connect. He changed his course at the last minute to press a feather-soft kiss on her forehead. Rey couldn’t decide if she was euphoric because of his gentleness, or if she was morose because his lips did not land where she wished them to have. 

 

And oh, it hurt her  _ so much  _ to watch his large back retreat into the distance. She watched him as his car sped down the driveway, swerving recklessly around slower mobiles, until it disappeared behind a hill. It stung like a knife to see him go, as if but she didn’t know why it pained her so much. He was just another being on the surface of the planet. 

 

Poe was waiting outside her apartment. Truthfully, Rey wasn’t at all surprised. 

 

She stretched out her arms and spun around in a 360. “See?” She said. “Unharmed and completely alive. No need to fret or drag me to a hospital.”

 

He held his hands up in surrender. “I know you’re fine,” he said, “Still, don’t blame me for being scared. Thank the maker you made it out of that bloodsucker’s house alive.” He shook his head in shame. “I still can’t believe I didn’t watch over you carefully enough.”

 

Rey rolled her eyes. “Stop blaming yourself, Poe,” she said, “You know I would’ve never let you chaperone my date, for goodness sake.”

 

“I know,” he said, “But still….” His voice drifted away into oblivion. “Anyway. Are you still tired?”

 

“No,” Rey said, “I actually slept quite peacefully through the night. Why do you ask?”   
  


He smiled, a cocky grin on his face. “Well, how would you like to learn how to defend yourself with sick-ass vampire hunter weapons?”

 

\-----------------------------

 

Kylo had managed to hurriedly don his knight’s armor before reporting to his master. 

 

All of the stormtroopers, young vampire soldiers, had fearfully parted before his stormy march. They turned their gazes to their ground, and some respectfully bowed to him as he passed by. Kylo relished in their fear: he loved the way they bowed and scraped at his feet for favor and mercy. 

 

It was his turn, however, to bow for favor and mercy at the feet of his own master. 

 

“Arise,” said the giant figure seated on a more massive throne, “And report to me, Kylo Ren.”

 

Kylo stood up as gracefully as he could, and lifted his gaze to meet the eyes of his master. It had taken him many years of training to not flinch at the sight of Snoke’s marred and ruined face. He kept his mind as blank as a slate, an art that he had perfected. 

 

“I have already lured the girl to our side by exploiting her compassion for living things, as you have taught me, master.”

 

Snoke chuckled, an ugly rasping sound that sounded like the dying hack of a man on his deathbed. “Ah, I am proud, Master of the Knights of Ren. How long do you propose it will take for the First Order to launch our attack?”

 

“The Resistance still believes in our truce,” Kylo said, letting a hint of disdain creep into his voice as a small smirk slid across his master’s face. “I believe that the best time to strike will be when we can catch them unawares.”

 

“When we do finally strike, the girl will be in our clutches, yes?”

 

Kylo hated the way Snoke said “the girl”. It reminded him of greedy businessmen talking about money. “If all goes according to plan,” Kylo says, “Then I believe she will be here to take part in our “research” and safely secured away from the Resistance.”

 

Snoke clenched a fist. “They will try to find her once more,” he said, “So we must take action immediately. Now, about our plan for this girl,” he said, “Do you feel strong enough to control and tame her?”

 

“She is wild,” Kylo said, as images of Rey’s beautiful face filtered through his blank mind, “But I have no doubt that I can keep her under control.”

 

“I leave her to you, then, when she is ours. When we finally do have her under our clutches, then your training can finally be complete, Kylo Ren,” Snoke said, leaning back in his seat with a satisfied smile as a look of awe crept across Kylo’s face. 

 

“Master,” he stuttered, “I am to complete my training?”

 

“All in due time. Now, go and prepare the attack with General Hux. We must be prepared.”

 

\-----------------------------

 

“We must be prepared.”

 

Rey rolled her eyes at Poe’s tone. “Honestly,” she said, “You’re sounding too much like professor Williams during finals week.”

 

He was brandishing some sort of medieval-looking crossbow and turning it around in his hands while examining it casually like it was some sort of everyday accessory. “It doesn’t hurt to be prepared,” he said, “And I wager that survival is more important than finals.”

 

Poe laughed. “I am, however, expecting an A from you in my class.” 

 

Rey punched his shoulders jokingly. “Don’t ask me for any miracles,” she said, “And don’t work your students like workhorses. Maybe if you actually taught less than 3 chapters and gave us less than 10 pounds of homework a class I could actually go to sleep at a decent time.”

 

Before Poe could retort, a hunter rounded the corner and quickly deposited a folded piece of paper into Poe’s hands. He read it, and a serious expression graced his face. “Stay here,” he said, “I gotta go do something important. Just don’t kill yourself accidentally and you’ll be fine.” He left without another word. 

 

Really? Poe thought that she was just going to stay peacefully in the training room surrounded by weapons of death? Hell no. When his footsteps faded just a little bit, she ran out of the room too. 

 

It was hard to stay hidden. Every time he shot a furtive look behind his back, she had to quickly duck behind a corner. Barely,  _ just  _ barely, she managed to stay unnoticed and hidden. 

 

He shot into a room, and Rey cursed inwardly. She wasn’t stupid enough to barge into the room. 

 

She  _ could  _ eavesdrop, though. She gently flopped to the floor and pressed her ear against the door to listen as tiny snippets of terse conversation reached her ears. 

 

“-can’t do it, General. I don’t know if she’s strong enough.” It was Poe’s voice, and he sounded nervous and apprehensive. Footsteps, pacing on the ground, echoed through Rey’s ears.

 

“It’s not her choice to make,” said another woman with a stern tone that could only belong to the General. “It’s the prophecy’s choice. She has no say in the matter. I know that it's not...agreeable for us to just kick her to the wolves like that, but it will ensure the survival of the earth. One sacrifice to prevent many others.”

 

Woah. Rey felt a twinge of pity in her heart for whatever poor soul they were talking about. In no context did “kick her to the wolves” mean anything good or pleasant. 

 

A knight in shining armor, Poe immediately began to argue. “Well, is there anything else we can do for her? Maybe train her so that she can at least have a  _ tiny  _ chance? I just don’t think it fits the morals of the hunters of the Resistance to just serve her to the vampires like she’s some sort of morsel.”

 

“Fine.” The general’s tone was curt, but a miniscule drop of sympathy bled into her voice. “Train her. I know that’s what you planning for her to do. There might be another exit to the prophecy, but I cannot yet find one. If she does manage to kill Kylo Ren like the prophecy says might happen, then she might have a way to live. You did give her the dagger from the prophecy, right?”

 

“Yeah, I did last night. Alright, I should go now” Poe said, “Thanks for letting me train her. It’s not a big help, but it might save her. I better get back to her now before she starts wondering where I went.”

 

Rey bit her bottom lip. She was starting to get an inkling of understanding of just who this girl was. 

 

“Should I tell her about the prophecy, General?” Poe’s hands were on the handle now and his voice sounded as if it were right next to her ear, and Rey poised herself to run away at a moment’s notice. 

  
“No need, Poe,” said the General, “We don’t need to frighten poor Rey more than we need to. Let her live on in oblivion.”


	13. Chapter 13

Her legs were pumping like a graceful gazelle, but her mind was like a chaotic battle between two lions. 

 

_ What was going on? _

 

Prophecy. A three syllable word that now spelled out her doom. Various snippets of the conversation drifted into her addled mind as she barrelled through the hallways silently in an attempt to make it back to the training room. 

 

“ _ Kick her to the wolves…” _

 

_ “Serve her to the vampires…” _

 

_ “Kill Kylo Ren…” _

 

Was it troublesome that the last one was what troubled her the most? As she prayed a thank-you to a god if there was one for letting her remember the way back, she tried to think about why it scared her to kill Kylo Ren. A vampire. A vampire that she barely even knew. 

 

And as she collapsed on the ground of the training room, whispering thanks to an unseen god for letting her get back in safety, she realized that she didn’t have an answer to her own question.

 

When her breathing was light enough to classify as deep meditation or the steady breathing of a person lost in a daydream, Poe Dameron stalked into the room. 

 

“I’m back,” he said in a chipper voice that clashed with the serious tone that he had just used with the general to discuss her death, “Did you miss me?”

 

“No,” Rey said, “If you want me to say the truth, that is. If you’re asking for lie, then I’d have to say yes.”

 

He laughed, taking her grim tone to be sarcasm. “Stop lying to yourself and get your butt up,” he said, “Don’t you want to learn how these kick-ass weapons work?” He walked over the wall and shifted a heavy-looking bladed staff into his hand and spun it expertly around his hand. 

 

“Why don’t you use guns? They’re so much easier,” Rey said. “One shot and a vampire goes down.”

 

“Rule number one,” Poe said, setting down the blade and looking once more at the giant array of armory, “Is to always aim for chopping off limbs. Bullets are just as harmful as tiny stones on vampires. Yeah, they’ll turn into dust if you harm them, but you have to make sure you actually sever a limb from the body. Just lodging a bullet in their flesh isn’t going to do anything. Here.”

 

He handed her a lethal looking bow. “Pretty, isn’t it?” Rey didn’t know how a weapon could be  _ pretty,  _ but she nodded along with him. She shifted the dangerous weapon in her hand, and gazed at the intricate designs on its wooden handle. 

 

It felt  _ right _ . While the dagger that Poe had given her felt dangerous and powerful, the bow in her hands felt like security and comfort. It made her feel safe, as it were some sort of guardian angel. 

 

“I like it,” she said, “It feels nice and sturdy.”

 

“Oh, wait til you see what it’s really like to shoot an arrow. Here,” he said, thrusting a couple of sharp tipped arrows into her hand. “Put the notch of the feathers into the string of the bow.”

 

She did as he told her to. Pulling the string back, she relished in the new feeling of tensed energy that traveled from the bow into her arm. It took a lot of will for her arm to remain raised, and her bicep began to tremble from having to hold back all the potential energy in the tense string. 

 

She did what her body wanted her to do. She took a deep breath. Her eyes traversed the training room and fell upon a handy target painted on the wall 40 meters away. She let the arrow fly. 

 

It whistled as it flew through the air, a sound that promised death and destruction. With a sharp  _ whack  _ and a loud  _ thud _ it embedded itself deep into the target. Rey, still standing in the same position that she had released the arrow in, watched as the feathery tip of the arrow quivered in the air and slowly edged to a stop. 

 

Poe whistled. “Well, I guess we found your weapon of choice. How are you so good for a first-timer?” He narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin thoughtfully, the same look on his face that he usually reserved for class time. “Archery lessons?” Rey shook her head no. “Did you read a book?” She shook her head again. “It’s movies, isn’t it? I know that Katniss Everdeen has been all the craze lately.”

 

“Honestly,” Rey said, “I just don’t know. It felt so  _ right _ .”

 

“Oh, I understand,” Poe said in a sarcastic voice that insinuated that he did not understand at all, “So shooting a heavy weapon meant for elite warriors feels right, but quantum mechanic math doesn’t?”

 

She punched his arm as he laughed. 

 

“Keep it,” he said, a smile gracing on his face, “The bow fits you. If I didn’t know better, I would say that it was made for you. Now, how do you feel about learning how to put it to good use?”

 

\--------------------------

 

Kylo paced around his rooms, clenching his fists in an ill attempt to stop the temptation of breaking something. The walls in his rooms had already been renovated too many times to count, and all the furniture repairmen were becoming frequent visitors to his apartment. 

 

Energy was coursing through his veins. He felt strong, unstoppable, and alive. Cupitaviri blood was strong, that he already knew from all the books, reports, and other sources he had managed to read up on, but he knew that firsthand experience trumped reading sources every time. 

 

He loved being powerful. But Rey’s blood was giving him so much power that he  _ didn’t know _ what to do with it. It was making him antsy and restless like a starved, caged panther eager to feast and kill. 

 

Kylo couldn’t wait for the attack on the Resistance to begin. He would openly welcome any excuse for carnage and bloodshed. After all, it had been a while since he danced with death and pain.

 

He stood at the top of the building, gazing out at the ever busy skyline of New York. One of his large boots was placed on the edge of the roof, and one wrong step could easily have him falling thousands of feet. The wind was strong up here; and the strong gusts blew around and felt like whips on bare skin. 

 

What was he going to do with Rey?

 

He knew what Snoke wanted. He wanted a strong pair of Force-sensitive vampires under his control that he could use to conquer the whole world. Even Kylo knew that he and Rey would be unstoppable side by side and as partners. 

 

With her by his side…. He shuddered with anticipation at thought of holding her in his arms for eternity while they ruled as leaders of the entire world. 

 

_ His  _ Rey. Strong and beautiful with eyes as brilliant as the rubies that he would shower her with. Teeth stronger than steel and whiter than the twinkling stars in the sky. She would be a beautiful predator; silent, deadly, and awe-inspiringly beautiful. 

 

And  _ he  _ would be her master. She would be his and his alone. Closing his eyes, letting the wind tousle his hair, he took a deep breath and tried to imagine how amazing her blood would taste when they would finally be partners. 

 

Beautiful. He couldn’t wait to finally hold her in his arms, far, far away from the Resistance and all the other enemies that would dare to try to steal her from him. 

 

He hated lying to her. Those round, innocent eyes full of light that he would hate to crush. She would walk into a den full of vampires, expecting to create research and medicine that would help to save millions of lives. Kylo could give her so much more than she could ever imagine. 

 

She could be immortal. She could be forever young by his side while the ages passed them by. He had wealth, did he not? She could get anything she wanted; beautiful jewels, flowing gowns, and all other types of luxurious things that every goddess deserved. 

 

Now, that filthy  _ hunter  _ that tagged by her side like some sort of loyal mutt,... Kylo shuddered with disgust. He knew Poe Dameron. He had played with him as children while his mother was far away in “important senate meetings” and “busy creating the new republic”. 

 

She never had time.  _ No one _ would ever have time for him. 

 

Rey would have time for him. Rey would create time for him. She would be his everything, and Kylo knew without a doubt that he would gladly die for her. He would die at her own hands, if she wanted to murder him. He would kiss her even as she stabbed a sword through his chest. 

 

He didn’t mind death. He  _ loved  _ death. Wasn’t that what being a vampire was all about? 

 

\--------------------------

 

“Everything is prepared?”

 

“Yes, sir,” said the lieutenant, “We’ve been processing the new recruits, and I believe that they shall prove to be exemplary in battle.”

 

“Their diet?”

 

“Simple AB blood. Nothing that will cause them to go crazy, but the blood is still able to sustain their growing newborn muscles and keep them strong and healthy.”

 

“Weapons?” Hux glanced out from the window of the control room. Below him was the training room, and he watched as several newborns engaged in a mock battle. They were strong and fast, that was for sure. But were they going to prove untameable?

 

“None, except for anti-light-sensitivity spray that we were planning on spraying them with before the attack.”

 

“Good,” Hux said, nodding. “Keep it that way. I’ll come back later for more reports and updates, Lieutenant.”

 

He clicked his heels once on the pristine black tiled floor and left the room with a flourish of his ironed cape. Now, it was off to find Ren. His lips curled up in a sneer at the mere mention of the knight, and he scoffed at the thought of facing him. 

 

No, Hux wasn’t afraid of Kylo. Just irritated. One might even say that he hated him. 

 

Kylo should be grateful. Kylo should be scraping and bowing at the Supreme Leader’s feet for being allowed to take the cupitaviri for his own. It was a big gift that the Supreme Leader had bestowed upon him; but Kylo seemed to accept it with nonchalant interest. 

 

Why, Hux himself would be  _ delighted  _ if the Supreme Leader had let him have the girl. He shuddered with excitement at the thought of having such power all for himself. Why, he might even be able to climb higher in the First Order ranks and eliminate all those who chose to oppose him. 

 

“Lieutenant Mitaka!” 

 

The boy turned around, fear flashing in his eyes for just a second before his forehead brushed his toes in a low bow. “Sir,” he said, “How can I be of assistance?”

 

“Have you seen Kylo Ren?”

 

Mitaka’s adam’s apple shook as he swallowed nervously. “I have no idea, sir,” he said, “The Master of the Knights of Ren seems to have disappeared or disembarked on a mission.”

 

Hux knew that the Supreme Leader hadn’t given Kylo any type of mission; not with the attack on the Resistance looming ever closer. “Curse that infuriating little  _ child, _ ” he said, hissing under his breath before clearing his throat and straightening his back even more. “Alright, Lieutenant Mitaka. I’d like for  _ you _ to deliver him a message.”

 

Mitaka paled, and Hux smiled with satisfaction. 

 

It felt so nice getting the respect he deserved. And, with the cupitaviri in his hands, he would get more. 

 

Now, it was time for him to delve deep into the den of the sheep and pluck out the hidden wolf. It was time, he decided, for him to  _ really  _ see the power of the cupitaviri. And with that dangerous thought in his mind, he swept away from the room with a dramatic flourish of his blood-red cape.

 

\--------------------------

 

“You see him?”   
  


“Yeah, I do.”

 

Rey was peeking through the crack of the alleyway, carefully hiding from the prowling vampire that was nearby. Poe had pointed him out to her, and she shifted nervously on her feet but managed to acquire enough energy to raise her bow.

 

“You’re sure he’s a vampire?”

 

“For sure,” Poe whispered back, “I can smell the scent on him. Tell me, does that stain on his shirt really look like spaghetti sauce?”

 

The treaty. “Won’t this violate the treaty?” 

 

“Nah,” Poe said, “This one’s a rogue. We’d be doing the vampires a favor by killing him, as much as I hate to admit. Go ahead, shoot him. I don’t know how much time we have until he senses us.”

 

She gulped down her fear, aimed the bow straight at the vampire, and let her arrow fly like she did in the training room. 

 

The vampire let out just one shaky screech when the arrow pierced him neatly in the back before disintegrating into a giant pile of ash and dust. Rey exhaled with her own shaky breath; unsure of how she should feel. 

 

Poe felt, of course, jubilant. “Nice shot!” He clapped her on the back just once and ran forward to the disintegrated vampire to give her back her arrow. “That was the cleanest shot I’ve ever seen an archer do! And this is just your first kill!”

 

She accepted her arrow back, muttering a thank you for his praise that she did not necessarily want. 

 

“We can celebrate later,” Poe said, “This area is always teeming with rogues. And while I don’t underestimate your skill with a bow and arrow, I don’t exactly think it’s safest for us to have targets painted on our backs.”

 

He placed his hand on her back, and Rey felt a jolt of excitement at the sensation. They ran together, silently, until the hit the crowded streets of New York City. 

 

“Uh, Poe?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

Rey shifted the bow in her hand nervously once again, trying her hardest to make it inconspicuously tucked against her flowing robe. “Can’t everyone see the deadly weapon I’m holding in my hand?”

 

At the words “deadly weapon”, a pedestrian in front of them whirled around to face Rey with wild eyes. Rey’s heart seemed to stop mid-beat as the man’s eyes traveled down to look at her bow, and Rey thought that it might just be the end of her life. 

 

Then, miraculously, he shrugged and turned around. 

 

“Nope,” Poe said, popping the ‘p’ sound at the end of the word and puckering his mouth in a perfect o-shape. “To normal people, it’ll probably just seem like a walking stick or something else that would be perfectly acceptable in public.”

 

She looks around, and finally soothes her paranoia when she realizes that no one is casting a second glance at her deadly weapons. Either the people of New York are totally familiar with deadly weapons grazing their streets, or her bow really did look like something normal. She chose the latter. 

 

When they got back to the base, which was cleverly hidden in an off-street of New York and veiled with a heavy-duty security spell, Poe finally seemed at ease. 

 

“So, your first kill!” He was more excited than she was. “Did it feel good? Thanks to you, now there’s one less rogue vampire roaming the surface of the Earth and killing innocent humans. Do you feel proud?”

 

“Yeah,” Rey said, but meaning the opposite. 

 

“Good,” he clapped her back, “You did amazing. No panicking or lousy shots! I reckon that it’ll soon be time for us to put you on the hunters society for good.”

 

At this, Rey perked up. “You mean I get to be a hunter?” A bit of enthusiasm crept into her voice, and for once, she felt like the child that she never got to be. “That’s so cool! I’ll be working with Chewie and all the other hunters, right?”

 

Poe gave her a sidelong glance, seeming almost skeptical at her enthusiasm. “Of course,  _ I  _ think that you’re perfectly prepared to be a hunter. Only thing is, we have to convince everyone else.” A scheming smile graced his face. “I know  _ exactly _ what to do to convince everyone.”

 

And that was how Rey found herself in the training room later with what seemed like hundreds of people watching from the seats situated above. 

 

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Poe,” she said, “You know I’ve only gotten this bow today.”

 

“Eh, don’t worry about it.” He waved to some people in the crowd, and they waved right back with enthusiasm. As Rey scanned the crowd, her eyes passing over several shaved heads, braided weaves, and all sorts of body physiques, she managed to see a few that she did recognize. 

 

Naldia was, of course, sulking in her seat. Chewie had already spotted her and was bellowing a deep-throated roar that Rey translated into encouragement. Aldera was waving frantically, her hands moving so fast that they seemed ready to just fall off. 

 

“Friends!” 

 

At Poe’s loud voice, the chattering audience began to launch the stadium into an eerie silence. 

 

“As you all know, I’ve taken up an apprentice over this week. For those of you who do not know her, her name is Rey.” His hand slapped her on the shoulder, and squeezed all the breath out of her lungs. “Today, she is to prove her skill. Her chosen weapon is the bow and arrow.” Poe grabbed the hand that held the bow, and lifted it high into the air. 

 

Sounds of recognition filled the hall. Rey could discern, from whispers and mutters around the room, something about a man named “Vader”. Whatever, or whoever that was, sounded important. 

 

Poe clicked a button from a remote that he held in his hand, and soon a whirring sound could be heard. Rey spun around on her heels, faced the other side of the stadium, and watched as several targets started to emerge from the wall. 

 

They were so far away, she had to squint to see them. 

 

“Trial 1,” Poe said, “Stationary objects. This is a timed trial.” He stepped away from her, and moved to the side where a table had been hastily set up behind a glass wall. He gave her a countdown, and Rey immediately lifted the bow and got her hands ready. “Three,” Poe mouthed, “Two,” then “One.”

 

Rey let the arrows fly. The first one hit the top target. The next one hit the bottom one. And as the last one flew, aimed at the furthest one that seemed like a speck on the horizon, the whole audience held their breath. 

 

And at the sound of the arrow digging deep into the target, the crowd roared its approval. Rey could hear the throaty roar that no doubt belonged to Chewie, and she finally relaxed her arm. 

 

When the din settled, she looked to Poe for her time. “1.342 seconds,” he said, not trying to suppress the awe in his voice, and the crowd once again cheered. When Rey looked to Poe for translation, he mouthed “New record.”

 

“Trial 2,” he said when the crowd died down, “Moving targets. This is a test of accuracy, not time.” Once again, he clicked the remote in his hand and the previous targets receded, with the arrow still embedded in them.

 

A new set of targets emerged. Only this time, they whirred around the stadium on wires at fast speeds. Rey had to twist her neck to follow some of them, and she dreaded the idea of having to accurately shoot at them. 

 

But she had to prove herself. She steadied her hands and raised up her bow. 

 

_ Predict _ the targets, she thought to herself. Don’t shoot at where they are right now. Shoot at where they will be. 

 

For the first one, she followed it around the room, and let her arrow fly when it seemed  _ right _ . Hell, she never had any real training. But for some odd reason, shooting her bow and arrow felt too natural. Almost like breathing. 

 

It didn’t take long for her to track down the other targets and hit them each dead in the center. And when she finally lowered her bow, the entire audience was suspended in shocked silence. 

 

Poe was the first to clap. Like a wave crashing down on the sea, the rest of the crowd cheered and hooted with loud applause. 

 

“Dead center, bulls eye in each,” Poe said. “Trial 3: an alive target. This is not timed nor tested for accuracy. This will be tested by survival. If the participant yields or is in immediate danger or fails, she will be taken out of the stadium. Do we have any challenges? If any person in attendance is against the trial, speak out now or forever hold your silence.”

 

“I believe a challenge is in order.”

 

The entire audience turned to face the sound of the opening door, and the clear, distinct sounds of the General’s boots echoed throughout the stadium. But hers were not the only pair. All Rey saw was a flash of carrot-red hair, and a contemptuous sneer on a disdainful face. 

 

“Ah, hello, my friends,” the man said, sneering on the last words when addressing the silent audience. “I felt like paying a visit to your humble abode.” A laugh escaped his thin lips. “My, my, I did  _ not  _ expect to get to see such wonderful entertainment.”

 

He turned his body to directly face Rey. “Now, little one,” he said, “Do you believe that the hunters are strong? Do you believe that  _ you  _ are strong? After all, from what I’ve heard, you passed out just from getting a shard of broken  _ wineglass _ into your hands.”

 

Rey quailed. This man knew of her and Kylo’s…  _ date _ .

 

He smirked again. “And if you are what the Resistance considers to be a Hunter,” his eyes raked her body in a leering sort of way, “Then I can only imagine how  _ weak _ the rest of your brethren are.”

 

The audience raised in uproar, and anger, hot and dangerously uncontrollable like fire, pulsed through her veins as she held her head high and glared right back at the man. “Strength pours through the veins of the hunters,” she shouted, and the entire audience cheered with her. “We are strong, and bravery is our highest virtue.”

 

“What about you? Show me, then, how strong you are. No need for backup weaponry, am I correct? Complete your next trial without any safety nets. If you die, you die. If you survive; then I might change my view of the hunters.”

 

Poe was the first to shout out. “I have no idea what you  _ think  _ you are doing, General Hux,” he said, shaking with anger, “But I am  _ not  _ going to let my apprentice be endangered just so you can get a little entertainment.”

 

“Stand down, Poe,” Rey said, “I’m going to do this. Start the next trial.” She shifted her bow and arrow, and started the ‘General Hux’ straight in the eye. “I’m going to prove for once and for all that the Resistance of the Hunters is strong.”

 

“Rey,” said General Leia with a gentle voice, “You don’t have to do this.”

 

“Yes, I do,” Rey said, “Let me do this, 

The general merely cocked his head, and Rey would have much rather preferred any other expression on his face to the cocky smirk currently gracing his countenance. 

 

A door clanked open on the other side of the stadium, and all Rey could hear was a foreboding hissing sound and a blurred outline of what appeared to be a giant lizard. She suddenly understood why Poe had to stand behind a glass wall. 

 

No, it was not a giant lizard. It was a huge snake that seemed to be as long as a house. As it slithered out into the stadium and dragged a huge line across the sandy ground, Rey flinched and grasped her bow even tighter. She gritted her teeth when she could hear the slight chuckle of General Hux beside her. 

 

She wasn’t so sure of herself with this trial. 

 

The snake slithered around her, and it was so large that it created a huge ring around her. Its tail reached its head, and when it fixed her with its beady glare, she felt her blood run cold. 

 

Rey aimed her bow and arrow right at its face, and it glared right back at her. She held her breath, sidestepped back a few paces, and let her arrow fly. 

 

It hit the target she was aiming for; the eye. Only problem was, it kept on hissing and screaming. She took the opportunity and hopped over the snake’s scaly body, running over so she could hide behind some perfectly placed rocks in the stadium. 

 

It found her too quickly. In the split second when she realized that she was floating, and that her feet were no longer situated securely on the sandy ground, she managed to scream. The snake wrapped its tail around her, and all of the air started to woosh out of her lungs. 

 

Her bow and arrow lay uselessly on the ground. If only,  _ if only,  _ she could reach it. Hoping like a desperate madman, she reached out her hand and  _ called  _ it to her. 

 

She didn’t really actually call it to her. It was like she had formulated the thought in her head, and her hand acted like a magnet. The next thing she knew, it had flew straight into her hand. 

 

Rey gasped along with the audience. She could hear the snarl of the red-headed general that was watching from a distance. She could hear the soft, but clearly audible, sound of General Leia’s surprise. But right now, survival was more important that trying to discover how she had managed to just…  _ call _ the bow and arrows straight into her hand. 

 

She took the bow once again into her fingers, aimed it right at the face of the angry snake, and let her arrow fly. Now, it was blind in two eyes. But it still didn’t let her go. If anything, it gripped her even tighter, wrapping around her fragile, branch-like ribs and squeezing it with unboundless energy. There was no space for her to draw her bow, and Rey knew that stabbing the snake with an arrow would be just as effective as tickling it with a feather. 

 

The last of the air in her lungs was about to drift away in the wind when she realized that she had  _ another  _ weapon on her. 

 

With a dramatic flourish and an even more dramatic war cry, she whipped out the dagger that Poe had given her. Its black blade seemed to suck all of the light in the air away, and Rey felt as if she was holding a block of ice in her hand. Moving as quickly as possible, for she could almost  _ feel  _ her life drifting away with each struggle for breath, she stabbed the dagger right into the snake’s flank. 

 

It sunk into the flesh as if it was butter. 

 

The snake roared, and Rey cried as the harsh sound of its voice seemed to tear apart her ears. She fell to the sandy floor, letting out a harsh  _ oomph _ when it felt like the air had been teared out of her lungs. She vaguely heard a crack; the sound of something delicate breaking. 

 

It was like she was a ghost; floating above her body and seeing the pain but not feeling it. Spiritual transcendence, and if she had been religious, then it might have been a touch from God. 

 

Then, a second later, her spirit spun back into her body and the pain crashed over her all too suddenly and much too quickly. 

 

It wasn’t a screaming sort of pain. It wasn’t the sort where one clutches their side and hollers until their throat is bloody and numb and where pain seems to be the only constant and predictable thing in the chaotic universe.  

 

It was the sort of pain that was so intense that Rey forgot how to breathe. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Poe waving his arms frantically at her, and she allowed a smile to creep onto her face. He was banging on the glass, screaming  _ do you need my help, let me help you, get out of the fucking arena Rey. _

 

Oh, Poe cared for her so much. Almost too much. 

 

She still had a job to do. Standing on her shaky legs and almost falling more than once, she bravely clutched the dagger in her left hand and quickly wiped away some blood that had managed to drip into her eye. The snake was still blinded, and it was thrashing around the sand, trailing a path of blood from its open wound. 

 

“Here, snakey snakey,” she crooned, flinching at the pain that accompanied her speech. “Come get me.”

 

At the taunting tone of Rey’s voice, it’s bloodied eye sockets turned to face her, and its tongue darted out in an attempt to smell out her location. Rey had only a split second to think about what she had done before the snake was charging at her with full speed. 

 

When it darted out its head and opened its mouth to swallow her whole….

 

She jumped, landed right on the top of its head, and she quickly slashed its throat. Blood, viscous and so thick that the smell of it seemed to clog her nostrils, seeped into her vision and wet her hands. When the giant corpse of the monster sunk to the floor, she fell with it; too tired to stand. She simply lay in the giant pool of combined blood on the sandy floor; hers and the monsters. 

 

The audience; were they screaming? Were they cheering her success? Or, were they doing the thing that she feared the most; booing at her failure?

 

She couldn’t raise her head to look. Her lungs hurt so much that every time it breathed, it seemed like noxious tingling fingers of flame were flaring up in her ribs. If she strained her ears hard enough, she might even swear that she could hear a delicate  _ crack _ each time her chest moved in and out with her arduous breathing. 

 

It was  _ her _ blood that was soaking through the sand of the stadium. Her cupitaviri blood. Her tempting and alluring blood. 

 

She managed to look up just in time to see a flash of orange hair fly before her eyes and hear an animalistic snarl as a pair of pale hands seemed to be on a trajectory straight to her neck. Before she could scream, before she could raise a hand to defend herself, something else shot in front of her. 

 

Poe had come to her defense. In the next second, when Rey could actually see clearly without those  _ stupid, fuzzy little shapes in her vision _ , she saw the red-haired general grappling with Poe on the sandy floor. They were going full at each other; swinging and growling like bears desperate to defend territory. “I won’t let you touch her,” Poe screamed, “I won’t let you 

 

With supernatural speed, Hux slammed Poe down on the ground, and held him down by his throat. In response, a choking Poe slammed his own hands on the general’s forearms; and the sound of crackling fire filled the air. 

 

“That won’t work, hunter,” snarled the General, getting tired from the amount of energy he needed to hold Poe down on the ground. “We Elders do not burn.”

 

“General Hux! Let my hunter go!” General Leia’s own troops were turning their arms on the fighting duo, unsure of whether to aim for the vampire or try and save their brother. “You asked for a peaceful visit, did you not?”

 

Hux stood up quickly, and brushed the dust off of his robes while sneering disdainfully at Poe, who was coughing and groaning on the ground. “I’ll be taking my leave now,” he said, “I think I’ve already seen what I needed to see.” He turned instead to face Rey and gave her a slight bow with his head. 

 

“Until we meet again, miss Rey,” he said, turning around and marching out the door with his guards. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other quite often.”

 

After his susicious gaze followed General Hux's back until he disappeared from view, Poe quickly ran to where Rey was still collapsed on the ground and scooped her fragile body up into his arms. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, “You almost died. I shouldn’t have let you do this. I’m such an idiot...”

 

“Not your fault. Did I,” she stuttered her words, fatigue quickly closing over her, “Did I pass? Am I a hunter now?”

 

“That doesn’t matter,” Poe said, “We gotta get you to the medical bay quick. But for what I think, I’m pretty sure that you passed. Welcome to the Resistance, Hunter Rey.”

 

Rey couldn’t help but feel proud as she let Poe carry her silently to the med-bay. 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK 
> 
> I'M SO SORRY I'M SO BEHIND PLEASE DON'T KILL ME. I KNOW I'VE BEEN SLOWER THAN A TURTLE WADING THROUGH PEANUT BUTTER IN 150 MPH WINDS
> 
> and honestly this chapter is pure shit.

He taps his fingers systematically on the mahogany desk, relishing the feeling of each drumming sensation that travels up his nails. Constant and never-ending, the clock ticks in the backgrounds. Minutes crawl by. Hours start to pass. And still he does not come. Kylo snarls in annoyance. 

 

Eventually, at exactly the second hour and 34th minute, and 10 seconds in, Kylo hears the front door fall down with an almighty crash that rings across the whole apartment complex. Snarling and punctuated footsteps follow the destruction. 

 

Kylo smiles. Hux has finally arrived.

 

“Really, Hux,” Kylo said as Hux rampaged into his study like a hurricane, “Is it  _ really  _ necessary to get dirt all over my shag carpet made from the Himalayan brown bear?” Hux ignored him; a skill that he had perfected over the many, many years that they had been together. 

 

As if making a point, Hux continued to rub his black oxfords roughly on the carpet, which left behind streaks of grey and black that stained the white fur. “Your girl,” he said, gritting his teeth, “Is too powerful for her own good. Tame that bitch, Kylo, or I will.”

 

Kylo frowned at Hux’s language. “I thought that the plan, all along, was to make her strong.” He scoffed for dramatic effect. “I’m sure the Supreme Leader will be quite pleased to hear of her power. It’ll help her training pass much more smoothly when we finally do manage to get her into our hands.” Hux said nothing to oppose him, but Kylo could practically still feel his anger burning the air in the room. 

 

Kylo, as he breathed through his nose, caught a whiff of something foul and noxious. “Why do you smell like sewer rat?”

 

“I got in a bit of a scuffle with our dear  _ friend _ . It seems that Poe Dameron has taken quite a liking to our little cupitaviri.” A sour expression passed Hux’s face as he brushed off lingering dust from his jacket, as if the very thought of the hunter was enough to make him vomit. 

 

Kylo had more important things to worry about than the ginger’s hatred of hunters. “Hux, tell me,” he said, his voice growing dark, “How exactly has Dameron “taken quite a liking” to Rey?”

 

Hux chuckles. “He was ever so eager to defend his princess’s honor,” he said, sneering so gruesomely that it made Kylo inwardly flinch. “Practically pouncing onto me as if he wanted to tear out my heart from my chest. He’s just like a loyal dog; cowering and always picking the wrong fights.”

 

“I’ll talk with Dameron later,” Kylo said, and he promised himself he would. “But now, let’s talk about you. What the  _ hell  _ were you doing at the Resistance base, Hux?”   
  


Hux, always so graceful, managed to look at Kylo as if he were the crazy one. “Why, all I wanted was to pay our dear new friends a visit. Shouldn’t we be accepting this treaty with open arms?” Hux continued when the scowl on Kylo’s face intensified. “Besides, it’s not like a herd of sheep can stop a wolf from entering their flock. If they attacked, then they would be disrupting the treaty, and we would have had every excuse to rip them apart limb for limb.”

 

Hux always did like to antagonize and threaten; they were the only things he liked  better than killing. “Did you not forget about our plan? Really, Hux, you were a centimeter away from throwing away all of our organization and work.”

 

“You worry too much, Kylo,” Hux says, raising an eyebrow at the knight. “After all, all I wanted to do was take a good look at your little pet. And, shall I tell you? She tastes  _ delicious. _ ” Kylo’s hands began to tremble with anger, but Hux still continued. “When you’re finally done with her, give her to me. I wouldn’t mind getting your sloppy seconds with this little treasure.”

 

The tension that had been cooped up in the room like a coiled snake finally snapped, and Kylo launched himself off of the desk to collide with Hux. Both men rolled onto the floor, loud snarls and growls filling the room and echoing throughout the entire apartment. Furniture got smashed, bookshelves got ruined as the two vampires scuffled and fought. 

 

“Are you angry, Kylo?” Hux bared his teeth as Kylo finally managed to pin him to the wall. “Mad that I got in a taste of your precious pet?”

 

Half-blind with anger, Kylo pressed even harder onto Hux’s throat with his powerful hands until the vampire’s eyes were alight with fear. While vampires don’t have to breathe to survive, their mighty limbs could still be crushed and snapped. 

 

Hux’s fear grew more and more pronounced as Kylo’s vice-like grip grew tighter and tighter around his throat. 

 

“Listen to me,” Kylo whispered in Hux’s face, “And listen to me carefully. I won’t repeat this. Stay. Away. From. Rey. I’ve been with her ever since she was found; far before the Supreme Leader’s plans came into play. I watched her as she took her first steps. I listened while she said her first words.  _ I’ve _ been the one next to her for her entire life. I’ve been her first and I  _ will _ be her last.”

 

Hux’s angry glare said all the words that he couldn’t speak. Kylo’s arm still pinned him helplessly against the wall.

 

“What, are you suprised? Didn’t know that I’ve been looking over her this whole time? Well, let me tell you something, Hux. You and the Supreme Leader can plan and plot all you want, but  _ I’ll _ be the only one that Rey will ever know and accept.”

 

He bared his teeth and moved so close to the ginger that his spittle flew onto his nose. Harder and harder he squeezed, until Hux’s face started to turn blue.“Rey’s power is mine. Her body is mine. She will always, and forever, be  _ mine _ .”

 

“BOYS! What the  _ hell _ is going on?”

 

At the sound of Phasma’s loud and commanding voice,  Kylo immediately removed his elbow from Hux’s neck, and brushed off the dust from his jacket. “Ah, Phasma,” he said, “So nice of you to join us.”

 

Phasma brushed past him, seeing past his formalities and instead, helped Hux up and supported him as he stumbled and coughed. She fixed Kylo with the same glare that usually blessed malfunctioning stormtroopers. Having been on the receiving end of it far too many times to count, Kylo remained unimpressed and undeterred. 

 

Hux’s glare soon joined Phasma’s.

 

“What happened? Ren, don’t tell me you let your anger get the best of you,” Phasma said, “I’ve already had to clean up too many of your messes.”

 

“I was just teaching Hux a lesson. Don’t worry; I had a good motive.”

 

“Really, Ren?” Phasma gestured to the still-out-of-breath vampire that she was supporting with one strong arm. “You were just  _ teaching him a lesson?  _ For kriff’s sake, Ren, you almost broke his neck. I know that you two love to scramble over each other in displays of manhood, but you have to be more careful.”

 

“No need to worry,  _ mother, _ ” Kylo said, smirking. “I’ll make sure to kill him in my next ‘display of manhood’.” He raised a hand impatiently when Phasma opened her mouth once more, undoubtedly to further berate him. “Don’t worry, I didn’t cause any actual damage. I told you; I was just teaching Hux a lesson, one that I know he won’t forget soon.” He let a threatening tone slip into his voice, one that Hux did not miss. The vampire glared at him, rubbing his sore throat while leaning on Phasma’s tall frame for support.

 

Kylo walked out of the study, leaving both generals behind. He was a busy man, after all, and there were several things that he needed to sort out.

 

Primarily, Poe Dameron.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“-and that’s our kitchen. Remember Chewie? He makes the  _ best _ chocolate filled cookies. Just ask him for one after hours and he’ll bake ‘em right out of the oven for you.”

 

Rey peeked into the kitchen, her gaze falling over stainless steel pots and black pans. It was the same as any normal kitchen; no sign of advanced demon-killing machinery anywhere. If she shut out the rest of the world, Rey could easily remind herself of home in the small, timely little room. 

 

And she was a bit hungry. “Is there any food nearby?” 

 

“Sorry Rey,” Poe said, shaking his head, “But the doctor said you’re not allowed to eat anything for 45 minutes after being tested. It’s just standard protocol that we all have to suffer through. But hey, when we are allowed to leave, do you want to go grab some dinner? It’s on me.”

 

All Rey wanted to do was find a soft bed, fall face-first, and sleep her way into the new year. But how could she say no to the puppy smile on Poe’s face? She let a smile grace her own lips, and nodded. “Of course, Poe. How could I say no?”

 

“Well, we have quite a bit of choices. Do you want Italian? Chinese? …. Snake?”

 

Rey responded by punching him in the shoulder. Poe laughed it off with a good nature, shaking his arm and bunching up in face in mock pain. “In all seriousness,” he said, “What are you craving right now? I don’t know about you, but near-death experiences always drive me to live life to the fullest. And that means lots and lots of fries and a big, juicy burger. But before we can sink our teeth into the best burger on this side of the city, we have to go back to the doctor and see your test results.”

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Dr. Chlora was a strict, straight to business woman whose hair was as straight as her posture. One might remember her because of her oddness, but it was really her normality that was striking. Her robes were clean-white, not a speck of dirt of dust staining their pure fabric.  Words flowed from her mouth smoothly and efficiently, more soothing than any anesthesia for her patients. Even the most tortured, ruined, bloody patients who had to be dragged into her hospital wing while screaming would fall silent at her first word. 

“You’re in fantastic shape,” she said, pulling out a file and analyzing it through her glasses. “You should expect to be fully healed in at least two weeks. Until then, you should participate in no exerting activities and should restrain from alcohol.”

 

All Rey could do was nod. The doctor’s voice was soothing, almost too soothing. It was as if she couldn’t open her mouth; and the doctor’s voice was like a compelling spell. 

 

“Take these pills twice a day. Drink them with water and after you eat. You can choose to eat them at any time of the day, as long as they are consumed after at least 50 grams of food. Do you understand?”

 

Rey dumbly nodded in response. The doctor dumped the container of pills into her hand, and walked away before Rey could thank her. 

 

“She’s an odd one, isn’t she?”

 

Poe agreed. “She is, but she gets the job done pretty well. We can’t really complain if she brings us back from death and gets up whipped back into shape. I still remember one time, when this guy came stumbling in  _ missing an entire arm _ , she performed surgery on him all by herself and somehow got the prosthetic arm to attach to his nerves without killing him. The woman’s a legend. Last time a soldier ignored her instructions, she hunted him down and practically stuffed the pills down his throat.”

 

Rey winced. “I’ll make to sure to eat these pills then,” she said, “She already scares me enough.”

 

“We need you in prime condition, and as soon as possible,” Poe said in a serious tone. “I’ve got this hunch that you’re going to be one of our best fighters. And let me tell you; my hunches are  _ always  _ right.”

 

“Just out of curiosity, what does being a hunter entail?”

 

“I’ll tell you on the way to lunch. Come on.”

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“I’ll have a double patty hamburger; medium-rare with tomato and lettuce on top. Large side of fries too, please. Oh, ketchup on the side also.” The server nodded at Rey’s order, looking somewhat rushed and anxious. Judging by the line behind them, it seemed that Rey’s order was more of a hinderance than a blessing. 

 

Poe barely batted an eye at Rey’s order, and proceeded, if it was possible, to order an even bigger lunch. If Rey thought that her double hamburger seemed big, then Poe’s double order of triple-patties would have seemed enormous. 

 

Feeling her stare, Poe shrugged. “What? We hunters need to eat our protein. I’ll pay for this, so go sit down and get a table for us. It’s busy here, and it’s almost a rarity to find a clean, open chair.” Glancing around the room, Rey could understand Poe’s thought process. Every table had suspicious smears and not a single chair seemed to be in acceptable condition.

 

But; it was nothing a few napkins and paper towels could fix. Rey did eventually find a table, and thanked the maker for a seat that was relatively clean. Cringing at the screech made by the chair’s rub against the floor, she sat herself down. 

 

A glass of cold water was set down on the table; Poe following not long after. “Our burgers should be on the way quickly.” Rey nodded, absently playing with the dew that was condensing on the glass. “Thank the lord,” she said, “I’m  _ starving _ . I could probably eat both our burgers and still have an empty stomach.”

 

Poe laughed. “I doubt you could. You need to learn from the expert. Just give me your burger when it comes out, and I’ll show you how a champion eater really performs. Do you want to know how to be a good hunter?” Rey nodded, and he continued. “First, you gotta  _ really  _ eat. And I don’t mean some sissy high-protein nutrition bars. I mean full-on meals with at least five courses and a thousand calories.”

 

Rey smiled. “I can handle that,” she said. “Eating is my hobby, my love, and my life.”

 

Poe smirked, and stood. “Well, we’ll see how well you handle these legendary burgers. I’ve never met anyone who’s been able to finish an entire meal here.”  He left, and returned carrying two trays piled high with the biggest burgers that Rey had ever seen. 

 

Rey’s stomach rumbled and rose to the challenge. The smell,  _ oh, _ it was so enticing. Drool practically flooded her mouth when Poe placed her tray in front of her. It was the very image of a perfect hamburger; the one that hungry viewers would sit on the edge of their couch for when the advertisements came on. Burger King, Mcdonald's, Shake Shack… probably all envisioned the perfect burger to be what was sitting right in front of Rey. 

 

A phone ring interrupted her daydreams.

 

“One sec,” Poe said, pulling his phone out and frowning at the screen, “I gotta go answer this. Go ahead and start eating; you look like you’re about to die.” He walked out the door at a fast pace, his steady footsteps clearly exuding panic and nervousness.

 

_ Oh well, _ Rey thought,  _ probably just some Hunter business that I’ll get notified of soon. _

 

She might as well as start eating. 

 

_ Heavy lifting _ , she thought, as she lifted it to her mouth. Before she could take a bite, someone slithered into Poe’s now empty seat. 

 

“I couldn’t help but notice that you were alone.”

 

She stared into those deep brown eyes, and the angular nose that was too large for his brooding face. 

 

“Kylo!” She tried to whisper, but her anxiety and nervousness slithered its way traitorously into her voice. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Just passing by,” he said in a soft tone, but years of experience gave Rey an inner instinct that could pick out lies easier than needles in a haystack. “I saw you sitting alone, and I thought that you might want some company.”

 

Rey stared at Poe’s burger where it was placed just in front of his seat. 

 

“Oh, I know you’re watchdog isn’t too far away,” Kylo said, just a little bit disdainfully, “he’s never more than 2 feet away.”

 

Something inside of Rey’s heart twinged. Something uncomfortable; like the sharp snap of a rubber band rebounding onto stinging fingers. “He’s not my watchdog,” she said with just a spice of attitude. “He’s my friend, and I think he’s great company.”

 

There wasn’t any way that Kylo  _ couldn’t _ hear the defensiveness in her tone. “Hey,” he said, raising his hands in a defensive form, “I’m not saying he isn’t great company.” Rey snorted and Kylo continued. “Hell, he and I were the best of friends once. Inseparable and never apart. We were basically conjoined twins.”

 

Rey’s face said  _ I don’t believe you _ but Kylo’s eyes said  _ trust me _ .

 

“Ask him about it sometime,” he said. “I’m sure there’s many things he’s keeping from you. If he won’t tell, just ask me. After all,” he smirked, and Rey  _ hated _ how handsome it made him look, “you do have my number.”

 

His flirtatious and infectious enthusiasm certainly redeemed him from his judgement of Poe. Rey’s lips mirrored the smile on Kylo’s, and both sat in silence for a few seconds, just smiling and gazing at each other. No need for banter. No need for gossip or chit chat. 

 

Just… a deep understanding between two individuals. The silence felt more comfortable than conversation.

 

And then it was gone. Rey could’ve sworn that Kylo’s eyes flashed red for the tiniest second. His calm demeanor shifted to something more ominous, like a dark shadow across his face. “Got to go,” he said, “Important stuff to do.” And then he was gone like a whisper of the wind; the only evidence of his presence a hint of his scent already disappearing in the air. 

 

Another male took his seat. 

 

“I’m back,” Poe said, a little out of breath while stuffing his phone back into his jacket. “You haven’t started eating?”

 

“Would you believe me if I told you that I actually brought another burger?” Rey laughed at Poe’s surprised expression. “No, I’m just joking. I was waiting for you.”

 

His hand caressed hers before she could even blink. It was there like a flash of lighting; like the strong attraction between two magnets. Perhaps it was like the moment God supposedly divided the land and the sea; or the sudden divide between the Earth and the sky. 

 

“Thank you, Rey,” Poe softly said as passerby talked and chatted and stairs screeched across the floor, “for waiting for me.”

 

It was so genuine: his smile. That twinkle in his eye was like the birth of a new star and Rey could, and would, never be able to say no. “I always will,” she said, smiling and squeezing his hand ever so gently. “Always.”

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Kylo waited outside. 

 

Waiting, watching, and never being. Cold rain began to trickle from the sky as he watched Dameron and Rey talk the night away in a warmly lit diner with good food and comfort. He watched as she threw her head back and revealed the smooth pearl-like skin of her neck, while laughter rumbled up her throat and shook her body in gentle trembles. 

 

Hot anger choked his throat like viscous lava when he saw the look in Poe’s eyes. He’d seen it before, that raw, unbridled hunger. He saw it in himself. 

 

He was tired of always waiting and watching. But with any luck, it would all change soon. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hola bitches
> 
> im not dead im just a really bad procrastinator lol

“I don’t care what it takes!” A fist slams down on the table. He’s snarling, spittle flying all over his walnut secretary. He doesn’t care; he was going to buy a new desk soon anyway. “Put me through to Snoke, right now.”

 

Mitaka’s feeble answer on the other side of the telephone slowly turned into a dial tone as Kylo awaited for his master to receive the call. Fingers tapping on the table, eyes glancing impatiently at the clockSure enough, after two rings, he was greeted by the smoothness of Snoke’s voice. 

 

“What is it?” His master’s voice is a slow drawl, no sign of the impatience or immaturity present in his apprentice.  “Another disappointment? Have you failed me once again?”

 

Kylo gritted his teeth but stopped himself from retorting. While he was strong, he was still not strong enough to take on his master. Snoke had years of experience on him,  _ lifetimes _ of experience. He would bide his time as every Sith apprentice had done in the past, and strike when his master was most vulnerable. 

 

“No disappointments yet, master, or at least none that I am aware of. I was just asking for your advice on our upcoming offensive.”

 

“You know the plans already, I’ve had you and General Hux working on it for far too long for you to be having any festering doubts. Cut to the chase and waste no precious time of mine: what’s bothering your mind?”

 

If there was one thing Kylo admired about his master, it was his straightforwardness and ability to see right through any sweet talk. His words might cut and sting, but they certainly did spare little time on casual chitchat and wasteful chatter. 

 

“I want to hasten it. How soon can we launch the initiative?”

 

There was a pause on the other end. Kylo could almost hear the gears and chains of his master’s mind working and churning. Then, “this is about the girl, isn’t it?” 

 

Kylo’s silence did not affirm or deny his master’s question, but Snoke was a wise and true man. His apprentice might be strong and vengeful, the perfect combination, but it was his patience that was truly lacking. Snoke knew that without patience, Kylo Ren would never be able to dethrone him, try as he might. 

 

“Do not try to hide anything from me, Kylo Ren. I  _ always _ find the truth.” His aggressive speech melted into something more amicable, the way a father would soothe a child after a lecture. “Do you what you want with the plan. I, too, am eager to get the girl into our grasp. Remember; remain careful and organized. I don’t want you ruining all our planning with just a bit of impatience.”

 

Snoke stopped talking, but Kylo knew what he was about to say.  _ It wouldn’t be the first time you ruined an important mission. _ He was just thankful that Snoke didn’t say it out loud, and that he wasn’t able to see the humiliation burning bright red on his cheeks. 

 

He chose his words carefully after a prolonged silence on both ends of the phone. “I understand, master. I will …  _ try _ … not to be too hasty.”

 

“Do not just try, my apprentice, but do.” With that, Snoke hung up and all Kylo could hear was the monotone dial tone as he stood alone in his office with the sunrise creeping over the horizon like tendrils of viscous lava.

 

\---------------------------------

 

“You okay, Rey? You seemed a bit off tonight.”

 

It was a chilly night; the fingers of fall creeping steadily towards the sleepy, summer city. Goosebumps began to rise on Rey’s skin, and she fought the urge to shiver, lest Poe start to get unnecessarily worried: an art that he had mastered and utilized to its full extent.

 

“I’m fine,” she said, sounding deceiving even to her own ears. “Just a bit full.” She patted her stomach for emphasis, noting the full curve brought on by the sudden intake of such a copious amount of food.

 

She would never let Poe know just how much Kylo unnerved her. How his brown eyes pierced into hers, and how his cold, pale hands seemed to be warmer than the very flames of hell. And oh, if he really were the devil, she would let him drag her down without a heartbeat of hesitation. If she wasn’t so seized by the chocolate of his eyes, she might’ve been scared.

 

Perhaps Persephone was not always the damsel in distress she was thought to have been. Willingly to hell, she may have gone. That thought scared Rey just a bit. Something strange like courage, except more malevolent, rose up out of the inner chambers of her soul and leaked out from her mouth. 

 

“Why are you always asking if I’m okay?”  She turned her head to face him. “I’m not a doll, you know. I can handle myself just fine.”

 

“Yeah,” Poe said, turning his head a fraction to the side and darting his eyes away from her own. “I know. I just… feel like I need to protect you.” He fidgeted a bit more, stuffing his hands in his pockets and scrunching up his shoulders. “I’m sorry, Rey, I just, I..” 

 

“It’s okay,” Rey said, not really sure how to respond. “I’m kind of happy that you want to protect me.” She shot a timid smile, and the staunchness of his shoulders relaxed. “I want to protect you, too.”

 

“You do?”

 

“Yeah,” Rey said. “Isn’t that what friends do?” Not she had much experience, or even friends,  to talk of, but through her friendship with Jessica, she had learned what it really meant to love someone and enjoy their companionship. So often had she wanted to bash in the head of a jerk that had made a lovesick Jessica cry (and there were too many to count), and on too many occasions had she wanted to bash Jessica’s head in for chasing a boy like some sort of drugged, heat-crazy animal.

 

“Yeah,” Poe said, a long pause between his words. “Friends. I think we make good friends Rey.”

 

She nodded, agreeing completely. They were roughly the same height, loved the same things, and most importantly, loved the same  _ food _ . 

 

“I don’t know, Rey,” Poe continued, “I know that we make good friends. But haven’t you ever thought that we might..” he trailed off, and Rey didn’t need to be a psychiatrist to know what he was going to say next. It was the thing of her nightmares, the cause of so many sleepless nights and sweat on her skin. 

 

“Poe!” She screamed, as fear thicker than lava churned in her throat and suffocated her. “Don’t you dare say it!”

 

Poe didn’t stop.

 

“... make a good couple?” He trailed off sheepishly after finishing, putting a few inches of distance between him and Rey.

 

This was exactly what Rey had feared. Ever since her childhood, she had learned to run, not confront. Bullies, policemen, foster parents; she had learned to run and run and never look back. That was the problem with Poe. All those feelings inside her, all the opposing views and sickening prospects: she never wanted to choose. The moment she did, she would have to keep running and running like she was so used to. And that, she knew, would hurt Poe deeper than any wound.

 

“Poe,” Rey said after an eternity, choosing her words carefully like treading on eggshells, “I thought this was going to be a good night. Just a normal dinner between two friends.” 

 

Poe grimaced and whispered a small apology. 

 

“No, stop saying sorry!” She snapped her words like a bloodthirsty piranha but corrected herself to a softer tone. “It’s not you I’m mad at, Poe,” she said, “it’s myself. I have all these  _ weird _ feelings swarming inside me, like demons and angels wreaking havoc in my mind.”

 

_ Well _ , Poe thought,  _ that’s an interesting description _ . A few more seconds of walking, a turn around a block, and Rey’s apartment came into view.

 

“Well,” he said, scratching his head and scrunching up his eyes in that cute way of his, “How bout you think about it?”

 

“I will. Don’t you  _ ever _ , Dameron, change how awesome and cool you are right now.” With that, Rey leaned in for a hug and Poe gladly reciprocated. Muffled by his chest and his shirt, Rey’s next words came out in a mumble. “I mreally rike you,” she mumbled, “I rust don’t wanna make ris hard.”

 

“I know,” Poe said, “Just take some time to think about it, okay?” He pulled her away at arm's length, and the two smiled at each other before one slipped inside to leave the other one outside in the summer air as cars honked and the city mumbled in its sleep.

 

\---------------------------------

 

Kylo felt it then. That pain and aching in his heart that was not his own.

 

\---------------------------------

 

Rey thought that Poe was okay.

 

Hell, he should be more than just okay. He was nice, caring, and not to mention, hot as hell itself. The Rey of years past wouldn’t hesitate to grab Poe by his shirt and pull him into what would no doubt be a passionate and wild relationship, but the Rey of the present was unsure and nervous. 

 

Their life together would be perfect, she had to admit. Slay a few monsters, and come to a cooked dinner and giggling children. Maybe they might save enough to get a nice apartment in the central part of the city. Grandma Leia might come over to visit the little children. 

 

Growing old, wrinkles in their face and gray in their hair together. Rocking on little chairs and holding hands as their children grew and grew and grew and spread their wings to fly away from their home. 

 

Who wouldn’t want that? Plenty of women in the city would no doubt beg for such a hot husband to grow old with. She would be a fool, an utter  _ fool _ to turn this down. 

 

But Rey found herself wanting to turn him down. 

 

She was a wild river, an untamed waterfall that fell from craggy heights to hellish depths. A stallion racing on the plain; the earthy ground trampling beneath her hooves and the blazing sun illuminating the whole world for her eyes. She was-

 

“A goddess, clothed in blood and gore, destroying empires with but a flick of her wrist.”

 

Rey shrieked, dropped her bag, and swiveled around so fast that she saw stars in her eyes. 

 

No that wasn’t a star. There was a very pale, very alive person sitting on her windowsill. Perched almost the way a crow would, with its starling eyes staring deep into her soul and ink-black feathers blending seamlessly into the dark, dark night. 

 

“Kylo!” Rey gasped, her voice hoarse with fear (or excitement, she did not know), “What are you doing here?”

 

“You called,” he said, “and I answered. I am but yours to command.” He sounded like a solemn knight, prepared and much too eager to lay down his life for his queen. 

 

She shivered a bit.  _ It’s because of the cold summer air _ , her mind thought _ , definitely not his words _ .

 

“I never called you,” she said, crossing her arms defensively. “I don’t even know why you’re here”

 

“You do,” he said, “and you want this. I hear the thoughts that you cannot say.” He placed a hand over his heart, and Rey watched as his long, spindly fingers curled into a fist. “I feel your pain,” he  _ hissed _ , “in my heart. I scream and I thrash, but nothing will alleviate this burning.”

 

“It’s not my pain,” Rey whispered (denied), “It’s yours. I feel fine. I keep  _ telling _ everybody! Why won’t any of you just  _ shut up and listen to me? _ ” 

 

Then. Then, she lost her anger and her arms flew up in the air along with all her lamps, pillows, and clothes. They floated like ethereal orbs, suspended in the air and defying all the laws of physics known to humanity. Her 12-year old teddy bear floated along past her head, its empty button eyes flat and motionless. Her favorite cashmere sweater, found at the corner of 12th and Baker st on a dark and damp night, hanging on the ceiling. 

 

“What is  _ wrong _ with me?”

 

Quick, stealthily, eerie and quiet, Kylo stalked towards her. Put his hands on her arms and lowered them as the entire room settled back into calmness. The teddy bear resumed its place back on the cash. The sweater back into the closet. 

 

“You’re not  _ wrong _ ,” Kylo said, “The world is.  _ You’re _ perfect.”

 

“That makes no sense,” she said shrugging her arms out of his hands, which remained in place long after her limbs left his. “You make no sense. Every time we cross paths, you just  _ have _ to act weird, don’t you?” She starts pacing across her room. “An English teacher…. Rich millionaire… I just don’t get you. I don’t understand you.”

 

She stops pacing and turns to face him. “Please, I don’t even care if you push me away, but just once let me see who you really are.” She walked back to him, holding his stiff hands in her own. “Just open yourself up to me. Let me  _ see _ .”

 

So sappy. Almost like a romance novel.  _ Or _ , a part of her whispered;  _ a tragedy _ . 

 

“You really want to see?” Kylo growls, jerking both of their hands up so quickly to his chest that Rey gasps. “You really want me to show you how much of a monster I can be? You want me to bear my fangs, extend my claws, and let myself get caught up in the bloodlust and violent frenzy that you want so desperately to see?”

 

She’s scared just a little bit.

 

“Do you?” He’s almost yelling at her now, his nose so close it’s almost touching hers. 

 

She nods just once and the next thing she knows is the feeling of flying freely and daringly through the open air. Lands with a hard  _ thump _ on her back onto her soft bed, with Kylo’s long legs pinning her own against the soft linen sheets. He’s close, so close that their breaths are intermingling in a front of a cold and hot. 

 

“Let it be remembered,” he whispers seductively in her ear, almost biting it, “That you asked for this. You wanted it. You  _ craved _ it.”

 

He licks her neck then, and Rey arches her back at just how  _ euphoric _ it feels. She imagines that this is what the Saints felt when they were bathed by the holy spirit. This was what true celestial, immaculate, intangible satisfaction felt like. 

 

“Don’t stop,” she groaned, entangling her hands in his wild and untamable curls, “Please don’t.” She tugged him closer, whimpering when his mouth smashed against her own in a violent collision of passion. Stars swam across her eyes, little twinkling bits of light. She whimpers when their teeth collide, knowing with pleasure that there’ll be a mark. 

 

“So  _ long _ ,” Kylo whispered between bouts of wet, sloppy kisses, “So long have I waited. You have no idea the suffering you put me through. I can look, but I cannot touch. I can covet, but I cannot have. I thought I was going to die.”

 

“What?” She pulled herself away from him, resting up on her elbows so she could get close enough to his eye level.  _ Damn him for being so tall.  _ “What do you mean?”

 

He sits back too, letting out a ragged sigh and running his hands through his hair. “I can’t tell you, Rey,” he says, “The truth would destroy you. It would ruin your perfect little heart.”

 

“This is exactly what I mean,” Rey said, whispering because if she spoke any louder, she might break. “You don’t open up. You just hoard and hoard your secrets until they bubble up inside you and spew out like a volcano to burn all those around you. Just once, I had asked you to open up. But you can’t even do  _ that _ .”

 

All at once, the temperature of the room had gone icy cold. All pretense of fiery passion gone and dissipated. 

 

“I could show you,” he whispers, “If you want to know it so badly.” What he doesn’t tell her is the pain she will feel; the betrayal and the unbearing sadness. So it almost broke Kylo’s heart when Rey gave one solitary and solemn nod, her eyes boring holes into his own. 

  
“Show me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GONNA TRY TO WRITE MORE #LETSDOTHIS
> 
> sinning has no curfew O_O


	16. Chapter 16

“I’m sorry I have to do this. It hurts me more than it will hurt you. You will feel nothing, save for the light wings of sleep grasping you in its gentle power.”

 

“Gee thanks, Kylo” Rey snarks, “I sure do love your riddles.” Under her bravado hides her fear. She knows that she hurt him, by the way his eyes seem to dull just a tiny bit. “I’m just joking with you,” she says, punching him lightly on the arm to try and alleviate the tension. “But are you sure this won’t hurt?”

 

“Not if I can help it. Now close your eyes.”

 

“Is that necessary?”

 

“Quit whining like a four-year old,” he says, smiling a bit as a fond memory of a laughing, giggling toddler rises to the front of his mind. “It just helps with the experience.”

 

“‘Kay,” she says, closing her eyes and fake-yawning. “‘Night, Kylo.”

 

The moment her eyelashes flutter against her cheek, Kylo gently waved his hand and let the darkness envelop her light whole. A few faint snores soon occupy the room, and Kylo traced his fingers down her cheek.  _ She looks so delicate while asleep _ , he thinks.  _ So vulnerable and so fucking pure _ .

 

Gathering her in his arms, tucking a sheet around her so she won’t get cold, he makes his way to the window and jumps down to meet the city below. The concrete creeps ever closer as the wind howls in his ears, and at the last second, he lands gracefully like a cat with way more than nine lives. 

 

It’s a fine day, so he lets himself whistle while he walks down the sidewalk towards his own home. 

 

“Remember that playground, Rey?” He swivels his head as he talks to look at a worn-down and old neighborhood swing set. “You chasing all those boys around with a caterpillar on a stick…” He wipes away a stray hair on her forehead. “I’d kill each and every one of them if they ever hurt you.”

 

They pass more familiar buildings. Well, familiar to  _ him _ at least. An old preschool house. The invisible smell of doughnuts wafting through and about a crowded park now deserted and abandoned. Flowers near a memorial with a silhouette of an old, homely lady.

 

_ “Again! Again! Another piggyback ride! Let me touch the heavens!” _

 

_ “Hey, I didn’t know that you could drink tomato juice out of any woman’s neck!” _

 

Soon, it’s time for him to allow the doorman, Rodriguez, to open the door. The man gives him a respectable nod, only casting one speculative look towards the unconscious woman in his arms. He says nothing; for his paycheck is admirable and the tongues and eyes of his superiors are sharp and disciplined. 

 

“Anything else you need tonight, sir? Will I be needing to call any of your… assistants?” 

 

Rodriguez knows that the women who respond to is calls are not Kylo’s “assistants”. He holds his tongue and silences his suspicion, for he’s a respectable man who knows not to invade others’ privacy. More importantly; he values his own life. 

 

“I’m good for tonight. Block all my calls and let no one up to my floor.” He’s gone with a swish and a flourish, the doors of the elevator closed. 

  
_ Sir Kylo is a strange man _ , Rodriguez thinks. He shrugs. He pays well, and that’s all that matters. Anyhow, the shopaholic living on floor 15 is entering, and judging by her stumbling posture and slurred speech, she’ll be needing his assistance like the many times before. 

 

\---------------------------------

 

“Jesus, Ren,” Phasma says when he opens the door and lightly places Rey on his king-sized, lavishly ornate bed. “Is there ever going to be a time when she can come into this place wide-awake and conscious?”

 

That’s right. Kylo reminds himself that Phasma was the one who helped him last time to wipe Rey’s memory. 

 

“Soon,” he says. “If all goes to plan, she’ll be by our side in no time. Then I’ll let her come in here awake and lucid.” He settles down onto his bed besides Rey’s still body, suddenly feeling dizzy and much too tired. “Fuck. This whole stupid week has been one big mess.”

 

“Tell me about it.” Phasma also collapses on his bed, lightly tracing Rey’s hair. “She’s become a hottie: I’ll say that. A far stretch from that little girl you saved so long ago.”

 

Normally he wouldn’t be affected. But this is  _ Rey _ Phasma’s talking about. He bares his fangs and growls at her. No one, absolutely  _ no one _ should be able to talk about Rey like that. 

 

“Hold up,” Phasma says, lifting her hands in a symbol of mock surrender. “Ain’t like I wanna steal her from you. Besides, I’m straight. I might appreciate the exquisite form of the female body, but that doesn’t mean I’m bi.”

 

Kylo nods and makes no attempt to diverge any further into the conversation. Phasma’s sexuality might be the most complicated thing that he had ever known to date. Except for Rey, of course. She was her own enigma; and Kylo wanted to be the one to solve her puzzle. 

 

His hands started playing with her hair again. Curling it, uncurling it, threading it between his fingers. 

 

“So,” Phasma said, coughing and breaking the spell that Kylo had wove over the room with his infatuation, “What did you bring her here for? It probably isn’t so you can just obsess over her. You do that everyday: there’s no need for you to kidnap her.”

 

“You think it’s obsession?” He gently traces a finger over her cheek. “I think it’s worship.”

 

Phasma didn’t even roll her eyes. She didn’t give a sassy and archaic retort like she would have done in the past. This was serious, she knew.  For the first time, concern for her friend began to roll deep within her stomach. 

 

“She wants me to show her.” Kylo broke the silence. “She wants to know everything. I should’ve known this day would come. Denial and refusal were my best friends. I just wish it hadn’t come up so quickly. So soon after she turned 19. Life truly is cruel.”

 

Phasma nodded solemnly. Life was truly cruel. That; she had witnessed first-hand. Becoming a vampire didn’t exactly mean that you lost all memories of your past life. That went for Ren, too. They both had their scars, even if they never showed anyone. 

 

“I’ll leave,” she said, getting up softly and treading towards the doorway. “This is between you and her.”

 

Her footsteps slowly faded to quietness as the slam of the door rang and reverberated. She was no doubt about to prowl the city; searching and shifting and shaping. 

 

The time had come. He slowly nudged Rey back into consciousness, and her eyelids fluttered and pupils dilated until she became accustomed to her surroundings. 

 

“Woah,” she breathed, sitting up and taking in the bed, giant TVs, and other obvious signs of wealth. “We’re back at your apartment? I’ve been here before; there was no need to black me out.” She remembered everything about her last visit: replaying it in her head every night. How he had admitted that yes, he did plan it ahead. All the custom-made clothes and personal color schemes. 

 

“I know,” he said, “I just like watching you sleep.” He continued without missing a beat, or giving Rey enough time to digest what he had just said. “You said you want to know everything, did you not?”

 

“Yeah,” Rey said, beginning to feel some doubt wash over her. “I did say that, didn’t I?”

 

She doesn’t have time to say anything else before Kylo jerked his own arm up to his mouth and tore open a gaping hole with his bare  _ teeth _

 

“ _ Oh my god! _ ” Rey cringed away, feeling her vision start to fuzz as her breaths came in short and fast gasps. There was so much blood: dripping all over the white sheets of the bed. “Oh my god! Jesus Christ! Are you okay, Kylo! Oh my fucking god!”

 

She was the only one panicking. Kylo was perfectly fine. Frustrated, even. 

 

“Shit,” he said, cursing while looking down at his wound. “It’s already closing.”

 

“Closing?” Sure enough, Rey could see how his cut was already being sewed together: flesh was creeping over the gaping redness. “What the-”

 

Her words were cut off when Kylo abruptly, without any warning  _ at all _ , stuffed his bloody arm straight into her face. 

 

She tried to push him off, but his arms were steel beams. Faintly, through her terror, she thought she heard him telling her to  _ calm down, this will be over soon. Just relax and breathe through your nose. _

 

The iron taste of his blood poured down her throat as she coughed and gagged. She tried at first to block to flow: to close her throat and attempt to spit it out. But eventually, as her mouth filled and her breathing slowed to a stop, she gave way and let it pour down her throat. 

 

“That’s it,” Kylo said, patting and smoothing her hair as she cried and swallowed his blood into her churning stomach. “Just a little bit more. I’m so sorry.”

 

When he pulled away, she let herself heave in sobs of the beautiful, fresh air. The metallic taste lingered in her mouth long after it went down into her throat. Blood must’ve been smeared all over her face, and when she looked down at her hands, they were stained a bright, crimson red. 

 

“No more,” she pleaded, “No more of that. Please.”

 

“I know that was hard,” Kylo said, still stroking her hair, “And you did it beautifully. You’re so strong.”

 

“So that’s it? Now I get to know  _ everything _ ? Just with a taste of your blood?”

 

“It’ll come back in tiny streaks of memory,” Kylo said. “Much the way a disease ravages your body. Slowly at first, bit by bit, until it all pours back like a storm. Then you’ll get everything back.”

 

He didn’t tell her what would happen  _ after _ she remembered everything. 

 

“Ugh,” she groaned, “I think I might be sick.” Her stomach was rolling, churning, and Rey was reminded of that one time she had gone onto a boat and the seasickness that had come with it. 

 

_ “Look, seagulls! Look at that!” Rey was gesturing towards the wide ocean, and the beautiful white birds that were sailing across it on their wide wings. “They’re so beautiful. And free.” _

 

_ A gust came by, blowing hard and mercilessly. Her hat flew overboard, its pink ribbons fluttering with the wind. In an act of desperation, Rey’s hand reached out far past the safety of the railing, and her fingers clawed to reach the rim of the hat. _

 

_ It wasn’t far enough. She leaned up on the railing, putting her feet and lodging them on the third bar: a bit too high for her liking. But this was her favorite hat, and she was not going to let it go quietly to its watery grave.  _

 

_ Her hand was not the only thing that left the railing. Soon, her feet pitched past. Then, she felt the horrible, sickly feeling in her stomach as she was lurched overboard and launched straight into the water.  _

 

_ Despite the sunny weather, it was quite cold. Freezing cold. She would have screamed if she had any air in her lungs. And, she would have had air in her lungs if she knew how to swim.  Which she didn’t.  _

 

_ As her vision dimmed and she began to feel the icy water flood into her lungs, something strong and firm, like hands, grabbed onto her waist and carried her up, up, up until her head broke over the water. They were right next to the boat, and Rey latched onto the edge and pulled herself up.  _

 

_ “Thank you,” she said, turning towards the water and her savior. “Thank god you were there when I fell. Odd though: I didn’t think or see anyone to be swimming in such cold waters.” _

 

_ There was no one there. She must have been hallucinating. Everyone else came rushing down to help her up, and Jessica wrapped her snugly into a towel before locking her up in the shower: berating her to get a nice, good and warm scrub.  _

 

_ When Rey came out into the bedroom, wrapped with a towel and smelling like fresh mangoes and floral scents, she saw her pink-ribboned hat sitting nice and dry in the middle of her bed. When asked, Jessica sincerely admitted that she had completely forgotten about the hat.  _

 

“That was you,” Rey said, “Wasn’t it? You were the one to save me. And my hat.”

 

“Yes,” Kylo said. “Your 11th grade trip down to Disneyland.”

 

“How much have you done for me?” Scenarios ran through Rey’s head: other moments in her life when she had been so unbelievably lucky and saved. She had thanked her vigilant friends, and once or twice had toyed with the idea of having been saved by God or a higher being. But it seemed that all along, it was just her black-haired, brown-eyed, and pale-skinned personal guardian angel.

 

Something else hit her. Something that caused her eyes to go wide and cling to Kylo for support. 

 

“That man!” She screamed into his face. “That man in the alley. The one who  _ licked _ me. Who  _ bit _ me!” True fear ripped through her veins like a drug. “He isn’t coming back, is he?”

 

“Iratan,” Kylo said, and Rey knew that it had to be his name, “Will never harm you. Not while I am able to stop him.”

 

Iratan.  _ Iratan _ . The name was so familiar. And suddenly, the hundred or so vampires that had attacked her and Poe made sense. They had said something about a leader. Something about a man named Iratan. 

 

_ “Holy shit,” one of the vampires said, his eyes widening, “She’s a Force wielder!” His comrades muttered amongst themselves, some with fear and others with awe. _

 

_ “Don’t worry about it,” said the same woman that had tried to persuade Rey earlier, “I doubt she knows how to actually use it. She’s alone, and there’s what, 20 of us?” The woman cracked her knuckles menacingly. “Iratan didn’t say that we could have our fun with her before bringing her to him.” _

 

The Force. Iratan. Everything was so strange, yet familiar. Like deja vu, almost. Dreams mixing with reality. 

 

“Ask me anything. You wanted to know everything, no? Just ask and I will answer.” Kylo sounded eager to be able to answer her questions, like he had been preparing for this and was desperate to prove his worth. 

 

“Um,” Rey stuttered, not sure what exactly she had wanted to ask him. There was so much that she was confused about. Well, for starters, “What’s the ‘Force’?”

 

“That’s easier said than done,” Kylo said, getting up from the bed and pulling at Rey’s hand. She understood his intention, so she stood too, albeit on shaky legs. Wrapping a hand around her shoulder to steady her, Kylo walked them out into the hallway, scanning it until his eyes fell on a vase filled with carnations and roses. 

 

“Lift that vase.”

 

“Okay.” Rey started to move forward, trying to shrug off the hand that he had wrapped around her shoulder. He kept his arm there, nice and firm, blocking her from moving. “Cut it, Kylo,” she muttered, “I need to walk if you want me to lift the vase.”

 

“Perhaps I phrased my command wrong.” He cleared his throat and spoke again. “Lift the vase…”

 

“I already  _ know _ that, Kylo. What else do you want me to do?”

 

“Lift the vase without touching it.”

 

“So…. I should use like a machine or something? One of those things that go..” she motions with her hand, forming a clamp and making little  _ chomp chomp _ sounds for a side effect. But the expression on Kylo’s face signals that he is both lost and confused, and just a bit amused. 

 

“Lift it with your mind. Using the Force.”

 

It’s that blasted ‘Force’ again. Always popping up. “That was my question!” Rey snaps at him, feeling so frustrated and vulnerable in her cluelessness. “I can’t use the Force if I don’t know what it is!” She’s  _ felt _ it, during that time in the alleyway when she had managed to push back all those vampires with nothing but her bare hands, but she had her eyes closed at the time and had no idea what she was doing. 

 

“I’ll show you what it is. Watch the vase.” He takes one look at the vase, and when Rey looks over, she sees the vase floating in the air. Suspended. Unmoving. She looks for any stray wires or any sort of contraption. Half-expecting an unseen audience to clap and whistle at such a wonderful performance.

 

“Oh.  _ That’s _ the Force? A magic trick?”

 

He does nothing to rebuke her statement. Instead, he uses the so-called ‘Force’ again, and a rose floats through the air to land in his outstretched hand. He places it over the ear of a stunned Rey, whose mouth is wide agape and mind unbelieving. She no longer believes this to be some sort of magic trick. 

 

“Woah.” She takes the rose down from her ear, inspecting each and every petal. Pokes the thorns with her fingertip to make sure they’re real. Satisfied by the sharp pang of pain in her index finger, she puts it back over her ear and looks up at Kylo. “Okay. I know what it is now. But how do I do this?”

 

Kylo looked back at her, and the vase slowly settled back onto its place on the armoire. It looked the exact same, with the subtraction of a single rose. 

 

He tilted her head back to face him. “All you need is the  _ desire _ ,” he said. “When you truly and deeply learn to  _ want _ to move the vase, then it will.”

 

“Okay. Easy enough.” Rey turned herself to face the vase, stretching her neck and her shoulders. 

 

_ I want to move this damn vase _ , she thinks, trying to convince herself.  _ It  _ needs _ to move. _

 

It stays frustratingly still. 

 

She concentrates so hard that it physically hurts. Sweat beads on her forehead, and her whole body aches with the soreness of tension. And yet, the vase does not even move a millimeter. The petals of its carnations seem to be taunting her: and Rey feels a hard rush of anger. 

 

Kylo’s hands enjoin with hers. He lifts them, together, to face the vase. 

 

“Concentrate,” he breathes against her ear, “Calm your mind and focus. Feel the touch of our skin. The warmth. The coldness.” His breath is hot against her ear, and Rey finds herself melting back into his sturdy chest. He begins to slide his other hand across her shoulders in a passionate and gentle embrace. 

 

Like this, Rey feels  _ powerful _ . Kylo is here to support her. He is her strength. She is his muse. She understands it all now: why two beings are so dependent on each other. It’s funny, she thinks. She’s fought Kylo so many times. She’s snapped at him, bullied him, called him names, and yet: they always end up together no matter the obstacles. Fate will not let them be separated. 

 

He’s thinking the same thing too. She doesn’t know how she knows. She doesn’t know how she can tell. It’s not he told her what he was thinking. He hasn’t even said a single word, so how can Rey just  _ know _ what he’s thinking?

 

It’s because she  _ understands _ him.

 

With that last thought, the vase trembles and slowly but surely starts to rise towards the ceiling, the petals of its flowers opening up towards the two figures locked in a tight embrace. 

 

Rey is drunk in her victory, elated happiness flowing in her veins. When she tilts her head to look up at Kylo, he’s already looking at her. He looks drunk with happiness too. She knows this by looking at the way the brown in his eyes swirls and dances. The way his lips are quivering uncontrollably. 

 

“Rey,” he breathes, “I think I…”

  
He doesn’t finish his sentence. His mouth is already on hers. The vase crashes into a million pieces and the flowers spread far and wide across the marble floor. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heheheheheh remember kiddos that sinning is winning


End file.
